Uncharted Space
by SauceBoss456
Summary: This is my first true Fanfic and it is covering the relationship of Jack and Male Shepard throughout Mass Effect 2 and 3. I hope that you enjoy it, but onward to the description! A violent criminal and a renegade soldier hell-bent on stopping the Reapers no matter the cost. Can they make it through the coming hell together?
1. A Fine Vessel

Uncharted Space

A Mass Effect story

By: Sebastian Moran

Chapter one: Fine Vessel

"Shepard, I can't help but feel a bit put off by this place. I mean honestly, waltzing onto a heavily guarded space station to demand one of their prisoners be turned over to us? I get that the Illusive Man says that he is paying the fee for their release but it still sounds unsettling at best." Garrus was walking down the small corridors of the Purgatory with his weapons drawn, eyes darting to meet every face they passed. "Not to mention that I'm old C-Sec, remember? No telling how many of these wonderful people that I put here, and they likely aren't very appreciative of their new housing arrangements."

The guards had been watching the squad from the moment that their boots crossed the threshold into the station. Their gazes were steely and cold, those of a pack of animals. Both Garrus and Jacob were brandishing their weapons unabashedly; the two of them had been on high alert from the moment they entered the station and they showed no intent of changing that. Even Shepard was feeling a bit apprehensive in the situation, the oppressive gazes of the guards proving numerous and worrisome. His hand hung lazily by his side only inches from his pistol, masking the fact that he was prepared to draw it at a moment's notice.

Jacob hung loosely behind the others as he gazed out of the windows back toward the safety of the Normandy. "I agree with Garrus on this one. This place feels wrong in so many ways. Even the air in here seems wrong." He had seen places like this before during his time in the Alliance. The cramped hallways, the seemingly endless hallways of steel, and the unshakable feeling of corruption and evil. "No disrespect intended, Commander, but can we get the hell off of this thing as soon as possible, please?"

They continued down the hallway, passing by numerous large windows showing nothing but the boundless expanse of space. "The checkpoint is just ahead, looks like Blue Suns mercs are standing guard," Shepard said as his hand inched closer to his pistol, just enough to provide an added sense of security. "Leave this to me."

The Turian in front took a step toward the trio and acknowledged Shepard. "Ah, Commander Shepard I presume. Your package is being prepped and you will be able to retrieve it shortly, however seeing how this is a high security vessel I must ask that you relinquish your weapons before entering. I hope you understand this is solely to insure station-wide security, it is nothing personal." The two mercs by the door drew their weapons on Shepard, in order to further cement the severity of his request.

Shepard reached for his pistol and aimed it directly at the Turian's head, his cybernetic upgrades allowing him to do so with blinding speed. Jacob and Garrus focused their weapons on the men by the door to keep them from trying anything drastic. Shepard grinned slightly as he saw the Turian's eyes darting back and forth, searching for a way out. "Now, I hope that you will realize that this is also nothing personal. I don't relinquish my weapons, and I hope that you realize that this is only to insure my own personal security." The Turian's mandibles flickered nervously as he locked eyes with Shepard. The doors behind them slid to life and a large Turian stepped through, captain's bars adorning his shoulders.

The Turian cleared his throat as he assumed a parade rest position. "Well, seeing how I wasn't able to make it here in time to make a proper introduction, I suppose now is a good enough time. I am Warden Kuril, the captain of this fine vessel." His attention snapped to the guard being held at gunpoint and back to Shepard for a few moments until he came to rest on the guard. "And you! I gave you an order to watch the checkpoint and even that proves a challenge! What are you mercenaries even good for?!" The anger in his voice was evident and the fire raging within his eyes only confirmed it. "You'll be lucky if I don't toss you out of an airlock and leave you to the spirits!" He cleared his throat regained his composure before speaking to Shepard. "Commander Shepard, I was hoping that your visit would be peaceful but that doesn't seem like much of a possibility at the moment. I will ask you personally, relinquish your weapons and they will be returned to you upon your departure."

"That's a pretty tall order, Kuril. Despite that I am going in, weapons included, and none of you are going to stop me." Shepard locked eyes with the slender Turian and could sense the heat of his gaze. Luckily, being stared down by a single man was nothing to Shepard. He had spoken to Sovereign personally, who was much larger than the form before him.

Kuril released a heavy sigh and motioned for his men to lower their weapons. "Fine, you may keep your weapons. Our facility can handle three armed guests" Clearly meaning to be a threat, however it didn't sound like his heart was in it. "Now, follow me Shepard." He spat his name as if it pained him to say it. "I'll take you to out-processing."

He went through the door that he entered from, droning on about how his station was so "innovative" and "for the good of all of the universe" but Shepard and his crew weren't paying him any attention. They were in a massive inmate housing area, hundreds of pods functioning as cells lined the walls, below as well as above. Large mechanical arms moved from row to row extracting pods and moving them out of sigh or simply to another vacant slot. Shepard noticed that a few pod spaces were void; only a kinetic barrier between the pressurized area and the vacuum of space. "Why are some of the spaces empty? Almost all of the others have pods in them or are at least blocked off by a shutter but those on the opposite wall are completely void. Why?"

Kuril's mandibles flared out in excitement at the question. "Ah, I didn't expect you to notice that, I commend your observational skills. Every one of these units is its own self-maintained atmosphere and I have the ability to change each however I see fit. I have blown a few of the pods out of the airlocks into space, thus the empty slots." Yet another attempt at intimidation. Warden Kuril turned to face the honeycomb-like room and folded his hands behind his back, taking in the scene before him. "I wager that your higher ups haven't told you the name of your target. It's Jack. The meanest creature I've ever encountered. Nothing but pure hatred." Kuril shook his head as if he was shaking free from a daydream. He once again stared at the complex before him. "It's glorious isn't it, Shepard? Well, I won't keep you any longer. Jack is being taken out of cryo-sleep as we speak. Out-processing is just down the hallway, Commander. Just past the Cryo room and the Supermax wings, there will be a door directly at the end and your package is awaiting pickup there. I am going to make sure that the funds from Cerberus have cleared. I hope to see you again soon, Shepard."

As Kuril took his leave, the three men turned toward the large complex and scanned the room. Two inmates on the opposite side were in a heated argument that was quickly escalating. A nearby guard took notice and seemed to be warning the two of them to stop. One of the men struck the other and the guard pulled up his omni-tool and a large tower rose from the center of the room and began emitting a dark purple energy. The two men were surrounded by a shield of the energy and as they continued to try and struggle the shield began closing in on them.

Shepard turned to the two men with him and could no longer contain his thoughts. "Does this seem a bit extreme? Everything that is happening here? First we are asked to give up our weapons at the door, then we see that the prisoners are treated like animals and even launched into space, and now a tower that is potentially fatal to the inmates?"

Garrus and Jacob exchanged glances before turning to Shepard and simply shrugging. "It's a prison ship, Shepard. It isn't really meant to make its inhabitants feel at home, but I'll admit that this is a bit much." Garrus said as he continued examining the massive room behind them. "I suggest that we get to our pickup as soon as possible and then get off this damn thing. You in Jacob?" Garrus looked to Jacob expectantly and received a nod. "Well then, we're behind you Shepard. Also, I bet you two hundred credits that we won't make it through this without firing a shot. You up for a little wager?"

Shepard grinned over at his Turian friend and chuckled. "Come on, Garrus. You have already lost some of your face, don't go losing your money and your dignity too."

Garrus's head snapped back in feigned offense. "Now I expected that kind of remark from Joker's crippled ass but not you. That hurt a bit, Shepard. But taking your money after this bet may sooth my pain." Garrus extended his hand with a toothy grin spreading across his face. "Come on, Shepard. You survived Torfan, took down a reaper, killed Saren Arturius, and now you're going to let some measly bet stop you?" Shepard reached out and took his hand firmly. "Good to see you haven't let your death get you down! Besides, you were never one to resist a bet. How else would I make money?'

The two of them were interrupted by Jacob. "Commander, it looks like we made it to out-processing. Now maybe we can get off of this thing." They all casually walked into the room and the doors immediately slammed shut behind them and bolted themselves shut. A door on the opposite side of the room slid open to reveal a reinforced freight elevator that was likely used to transport troublesome prisoners. The intercoms above them sparked to life and a brief cough came over them, soon followed by Warden Kuril's voice.

"I am sorry about this Shepard, well actually after your little stunt at the door I can't say that I'm very contrite. You are much more valuable as a prisoner than as a customer, I'm afraid. Drop your weapons and enter the transport cell in front of you and I won't harm your friends."

Shepard's hands were slowly tightening into fists as rage built up within him. "Kuril, go to hell you son of a bitch. Give me a few minutes and I'll be sure to send your scaly ass there myself." Numerous doors within the room slid open and mercenaries began pouring in before stopping and training their weapons on the group of men by the entrance. Shepard's anger immediately faded and he sprinted for the nearest piece of cover as Garrus and Jacob quickly followed suit.

The gunfire rained down on them from every direction in bursts. The men were popping out of cover at each break in the fire, dropping one or two mercs before crouching back into their protection. Garrus turned to Shepard slowly as the barrage of fire smashed into the metal barrier. "Hey, Shepard. Looks like you owe me two hundred credits" he deadpanned just before he popped out of cover and fired a sniper round into an unfortunate merc's chest. The last of the mercs were cowering behind a short wall halfway across the room, blindly firing over their cover. Shepard stood and hurled a violently pulsing ball of biotic energy in their direction, ripping them from the ground and smashing them into the nearby walls like ragdolls.

"Okay, so now we need to get to the cryo bay and get Jack out of this ship as soon as possible. Any crew we see are hostile, is that clear?" Jacob and Garrus gave an acquiescent nod and hugged their rifles to their chests. As they exited the door Shepard noticed a group of insulated hoses running along the ceiling of the hallway running adjacent to them. He pointed them out and the men started down the hallway, back to back, until they came upon a door where the hoses ran into the doorframe in various locations.

Garrus activated the door panel and they swung to life, revealing an engineer standing before a massive switchboard with a window overlooking the cryo bay directly ahead. He turned to face the door with a smile on his face and a mug of coffee in his hand. He stopped in place as he saw the trio of unknown figures in the doorway. He dropped his coffee to the ground and leapt for a pistol laying on the nearby switchboard. "Garrus, Jacob, get down!" Shepard surrounded himself with a biotic shield just as two pistol rounds uselessly connected with his head. He drew his own pistol, but let it hang at his side and held up his other hand in a mock surrender. "Okay, okay. Calm down. We aren't here to hurt you. All we need is to retrieve a certain prisoner that is being held in cryo. It's Jack." The man's face contorted into a look of pure fear and he turned the pistol on the switchboard, destroying the majority of its functionality, and then turned it on himself and pulled the trigger; littering the ceiling with grey matter and his own lifeblood. Shepard fell to his knees and stared into the man's lifeless and bloodshot eyes. Garrus cautiously stepped around Shepard and up to the switchboard.

"Um, Shepard, that technician just caused us a serious problem. I can't work with these controls in their current state. We can't override a single cryo pod, instead it requires us to do a manual reboot of the entire cell network. Meaning that it will open every cell on the ship for an indefinite amount of time. A full scale riot will happen within minutes, if not instantaneously. However, we also got a bit lucky. Our man Jack is in the tube directly in front of us." Shepard stood and joined him by the window. "I can easily open the tube. I just need the go-ahead, Commander." He turned to Shepard with a conflicted look in his eyes.

Shepard looked to his friend and back to the man's corpse, _how many end up like him?_ He thought _._ "Okay, Garrus. Open it up. We need to get down there and secure Jack as soon as we can. Then we work our way back to the Normandy and get the hell off of this thing." Garrus strode to the center of the board and his omni-tool flashed to life as he began hacking into the system. Within moments the room before them filled with smoke as the cryo tube began to release from its confines. A large mechanical arm extended from the wall and hovered above the pod as its venting process continued; across the room a trio of YMIR mechs whirred to life and began walking towards the pod. Garrus pressed himself against the glass to get a better view of the machines below. "Shepard, we've got three YMIR mechs down there. The only heavy weapons that we have are grenade launchers! We can take them out but it be a bit of a challenge."

Below them the mechanical arm lowered itself to the pod and latched to the top before rotating to unhinge its magnetic locks. The room was flooded with impenetrable smoke for a few moments as the tube hissed open. Finally Jack's appearance would be revealed to them. Shepard had built an image for himself as to what Jack would look like. He mentally pictured a massive man, covered from head to toe in scars and tattoos. A man who had seen the worst that the universe had to dish out and survived it all. The smoke dissipated enough for him to see and what lay before him struck him dumb. Jack was a woman. The tattoo part was correct but everything else seemed backwards. Shepard leaned against the console to take in the sight before him. Jack was wearing a pair of thick prison pants and a series of leather belts across her chest to cover her breasts, likely to maintain what was left of her modesty. But what surprised Shepard most was her physical features. Her body was lithe and muscular and the majority of the visible skin was adorned with ink. Her head was shaved bald and a thick tattoo ran along the sides of her head. Her facial features were beautifully balanced. Maybe it was the idea of her that enthralled him so deeply: a sense of beauty emanating from something so intimidating.

She was strapped to a chair with thick restraints around her neck, wrists, and feet. She lay motionless at first and then started to groggily stir and shift. She attempted to lift her arm but the restraint kept her arm in place. Her eyes shot open and Shepard had never seen anything truly like them before. They were a gorgeous shade of dark brown that held a look of untold animosity. She looked around the room frantically until she came to rest on the mechs that were lumbering towards her and her pupils began to pulse a faint blue before her whole eye erupted into a blinding blue light. Her hands clenched into fists and biotic energy pulsed from them and the wrist restraints blew off of the chair. She tore the restraint from her neck with a grunt and forcefully ripped her feet from their shackles. She stumbled from the tube and immediately brought her hands to her forehead, having not yet acclimated to her surroundings. She stumbled back to her feet and shook her head furiously as her body strove to recover its equilibrium. One of the machines took a few more steps towards her until it stood mere feet away from her. It stared at her for a few moments before activating its bullhorn. "Please return to your cell and await a technician," it ordered in its monotone voice "If you do not comply we will use extreme force."

Shepard stared down at her as her head slowly rose to meet the machine's gaze and she began to release a low and guttural growl that slowly increased in intensity until she was practically screaming. Her body exploded with a shockwave of biotics before she leapt at the machines and the room was rocked with explosions and the sounds of grinding metal. Jacob and Garrus locked eyes and exchanged shocked looks before simultaneously uttering a single phrase. "Holy shit!" Even Shepard had no idea how to piece together what he had just seen happen. A single woman had just attacked a trio of mechs without a moment's hesitation.

Finally snapping out of his trance, Shepard re-established command. "We need to get down there and provide support! Now!" He ran to the nearby door leading to the cryo room and slammed his hand on the control panel. The door partially opened before shutting down and stopping in place. "Shit, I don't have time for this right now!" Shepard gripped the doors and opened them manually; his new cybernetics once again providing a massive amount of help. "Now let's move!"

Garrus hesitated for a moment before taking off after the Commander. "Shepard, this girl just tackled a YMIR mech. Not a lone one either! I don't expect to find much down here apart from a bullet riddled corpse and a few very irritable machines. I swear if we came here for nothing I'll space Kuril's sorry ass myself."

They rounded the corner into the room and their mouths immediately fell agape. Pieces of the machines littered the entire room and the rear wall was replaced by a gaping breach. The only noise in the room was heavy breathing and the sparking of the mutilated machines. The silence was broken when a massive explosion sounded from deeper within the station.

Shepard slowly turned to his friends who were scanning the devastation. "We need to go after her. She obviously has extreme potential," He continued as Garrus and Jacob stared at him quizzically.

Garrus took a quick survey of his surroundings once again before finally addressing Shepard. "Forgive the insubordination, but am I understanding that you want us to charge _towards_ the escapee that is smashing her way through entire walls of a space station?! She seems a bit unstable to me, Commander."

Shepard stared at the floor for a few moments before making up his mind. He didn't answer his friend, instead he simply stepped through the breach in the wall and began to make his way through the makeshift hallway. Garrus shot Jacob a concerned look before timidly following Shepard into the carnage.

SHIFT

The Crew had to fight their way through numerous rooms in the middle of an all-out riot. The freed prisoners were targeting every guard they saw, the guards were fighting for their lives, and the Blue Suns were shooting anything that moved. After pushing through a heavy defensive force of mercenaries they entered a large room with a tower of crates in the center of it, and a familiar Turian was standing atop the crates and raining down gunfire on a group of unarmed prisoners. Within just a few seconds only a single prisoner remained; cowering behind a box on his hands and knees. He tried to break from his cover towards a nearby door but Kuril fired a volley of rounds into his back.

Kuril noticed Shepard and his squad by the door and turned towards them with a vile grin on his face. "It's a shame that you have laid waste to my station, Shepard. My entire life was invested in this. And now it is all falling apart!" Kuril began firing wildly upon them as they fled to a nearby stack of crates. "I'm going to kill you for this, Shepard! You and all of your friends!"

The men were exhausted from their fight so far and had no idea how they could take out Kuril. The men were all snapped into reality by the sound of shattering glass and a blood-curdling scream. The all turned their gazes upward to see Jack standing in a large hole that had been smashed through the glass catwalks above. She locked eyes with Kuril and her body pulsed once more with biotic energy, shattering the remaining glass on the catwalk. "You! You brought Cerberus here!" She leapt from the catwalk and landed on the tower of boxes near Kuril with a burst of energy that threw Kuril from his makeshift throne. He crashed to the ground with a thud and his rifle slid away from him. He quickly attempted to reach for it but Jack soon stood in his path, a ghoulish grin spreading across her face. He dropped to his knees and proceeded to beg for his life. "Spirits help me! Jack, you don't have to do this to me. You must understand that it was only business!" He discreetly reached behind his back and grabbed a knife as he continued speaking. "Please, Jack! I have a family! Loved ones!"

He lunged the knife towards her abdomen but his arm was stopped by a well-placed bullet from Shepard. He cried out in pain as Jack took the knife from his hand and examined it. "You tried to stab me," She said as she drove the knife into the side of his neck with a large spurt of blood. "I want you to know that I have wanted to do this for a long time." She violently tore the knife sideways and split his throat open, spilling his blood onto her legs. She tucked the knife into her boot before turning to Shepard with a skeptical look on her face. "Who the hell are you exactly?"

"I'm Commander Shepard, and we're the people who just saved your life." Shepard responded curtly.

"He was already dead. He just didn't know it yet." Jack lightly tapped Kuril's head with her boot as she spoke. "So I guess you're the ones who came in the Cerberus ship. Why are you here?"

"We need your help to stop the Collectors. They're abducting entire human colonies."

"You want me to get on a Cerberus ship? Are you kidding me? You're going to have to sweeten the deal. I'm certain your ship has a Cerberus database and I want access to the records, all of them."

"Deal. I've been curious about the records myself." Shepard quickly responded.

"Miranda won't just let that happen, Commander." Jacob muttered under his breath, hoping that Jack wouldn't hear him.

"Oh, it's going to piss off some Cerberus bitch? Even better. You had better not be bullshitting me, Shepard." Jack said as she eyed him suspiciously.

"I assure you that I'm not."

"Then why the fuck are we standing around here?" Jack pivoted towards the door and casually strode off towards the Normandy.


	2. First Impressions

Chapter two: First Impressions

Shepard had just stepped out of the shower and was slowly beginning to gather his uniform. He felt wrong after leaving the Purgatory, despite its atmosphere being sterilized. As soon as he had become fully dressed Joker came over the intercom in his usual comedic manner. "Commander Shepard, I recommend that you put a stop to the situation in the Med bay. Miranda went to go pay our newest arrival a visit after Chakwas and Chambers finished their exams. Maybe you can make it down there before it really kicks off. Oh, and the new girl scares the shit out of me. Shepard had intended to speak to Jack before anyone else could cause a possible incident.

He ran to the elevator and slammed the controls for the CIC, mumbling under his breath as the elevator started its descent. "Damn it, Miranda, she isn't the type of person who's going to put up with your ice-queen shit." The elevator doors slid open and he quickly took off for the door to the Med bay, which he discovered was locked from the inside. He motioned for a nearby soldier to work on getting it open as he walked to the window to see what was happening. He could hear Miranda start her rant as he stepped up to the glass. She was standing with her hands folded behind her back and was holding onto her composure, despite the fact that even she was likely slightly intimidated by the tattooed figure before her.

"Welcome to the Normandy, Subject Zero. As you know by now, this is a Cerberus ship, and on this ship we follow orders. Commander Shepard is the captain and I am his appointed Executive Officer. You are expected to show him the proper respect, and me in turn. That means if _I_ give you an order you are to listen to it just as you would if the Commander had given it. Animals understand the concept, I expect you to comprehend it as well."

Jack was a few feet away, casually leaning against the railing with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She stared at Miranda for a few moments before releasing a brief mirthless laugh. "You must be the Cerberus bitch that the other lapdog mentioned earlier. Listen cheerleader, I'm here because of Shepard. Not you. By the way, my goddamn name is Jack. Another thing, I don't like you or Cerberus so I hold no respect for you. Understood?" Jack displayed a fake smile and batted her eyelashes at a very heated Miranda. It was at this time that the Med bay doors were finally bypassed and they swung open, Shepard immediately stepping through. Jack turned towards him with an amused look across her face. "Well, well, well. Speak of the devil. Can I get access to those files now, Shepard?"

Miranda immediately snapped towards Shepard with unnatural speed and her eyes began burning into him. "Shepard, what does she mean by files? Please tell me you didn't make some kind of deal with this…degenerate." Miranda looked over her shoulder at Jack with a look of pure revulsion.

Shepard eyed Miranda uncertainly before acknowledging her with obvious irritation in his voice, snapping her attention back to him with a start. "Miranda, are you serious?! You don't even know Jack and you already harbor this animosity towards her. Give her access to the on-board databases. All of them. She's looking for information and I plan to help her find it."

Jack leaned against the railing once again and was looking at Miranda with a smug smile across her face. She knew that Miranda was flustered and she was savoring every moment of it. Miranda opened her mouth to protest but instead brought up her omni-tool to confirm Jack's access. She concluded her business and left the room without even as much as a glance at the other two. Jack shifted her weight onto one hip and stared at Shepard, one eyebrow raised.

"What?" Shepard asked jokingly.

"It's just nice to see that not everyone is Cerberus's bitch. Not to say that I trust you, but you're definitely on better terms than that bitch. She'll be lucky if I don't rip her in half." Jack pushed herself off of the wall and stopped just outside of the doorway, her hand resting on the controls. "I'll be as far down in the ship as I can get. I'm not much for traffic. Keep these Cerberus assholes off of me, before someone gets hurt. Also, the Doc wants to see you. Something about implant stability." She shut the doors just as her sentence concluded.

EDI's lifeless voice soon came over the intercom. "Would you like me to call the crew to a meeting regarding Subject Zero after your analysis with Doctor Chakwas?"

"Her name is Jack, EDI. Call the crew, including Yeoman Chambers, to the debriefing room. We'll involve her psychological evaluation in the notes." He had grown to respect Kelly Chambers over the past few weeks. She was a great person to have aboard, due to both her chipper attitude and her studies in psychology. She could have an extremely brief encounter with someone, a few seconds at most, and paint an extremely accurate portrait of their mental state. Despite her humility she was good at what she did, and she knew it.

SHIFT

All of the crew had gathered and taken seats around the debriefing table for their analysis of Jack; except for Zaeed, who was leaning against the wall nearby. So far no one had truly started speaking, only idle conversation was being made by everyone but Miranda. Shepard and Chakwas finally entered the room and took their respective seats and the meeting was soon under way.

Chakwas was the first to speak. "Well, there's no doubt that she is quite the character. According to the brief scan she allowed me to do, seventy-five percent of her body is covered in tattoos. Which is, in no doubt, interesting, but it's what lies beneath her skin that intrigues me. Her body emanates an energy only known to one source; Element Zero. She is full of biotic implants, some of which have been inside of her for years. They must have been implanted into her when she was a small child, maybe five or six. There are numerous surgical scars running all along her body in various directions. I suppose that could explain why she was known as 'Subject Zero' and her hatred of Cerberus. A Cerberus experiment perhaps?"

Garrus immediately threw himself into the conversation. "Shepard, Jacob, and I all saw her in action. She completely decimated a trio of heavy mechs within moments and then began tearing her way through an entire space station. Sure we could have done it with heavy weaponry and lots of explosives but she accomplished it with her bare hands! I've never seen a biotic with that kind of potential. She's beyond valuable."

EDI chimed in directly behind him. "The Normandy's scanners weren't capable of tracing the amounts of biotic energy that are housed within her. The readings exceeded our measurements in every way possible. I believe that she may be the most powerful biotic alive today. Her powers are nearly triple those of Operative Lawson and approximately five times the power of Lieutenant Taylor's. Her powers double your own, Commander, and she will likely prove to be an equal, or even greater, to Samara."

Miranda was stirring in her seat as the conversation went on and eventually she could no longer hold in her frustration. She began spewing any reason she could come up with to remove Jack from the squad. "Despite her resourcefulness she is reckless! She poses unknown risks and I for one am not willing to unchain some feral beast because it is potentially powerful. I suggest that we do a complete mental evaluation before even _considering_ her as an active squad member!"

Kelly noticed the comment about mental evaluation and immediately seized the opportunity. "Actually, Ms. Lawson, I have already done a psyche evaluation on our new friend Jack. Her tattoos, as we have all noticed by now, are numerous and each one is artistically beautiful in its own way. However, they could possibly point to deep personal issues. Likely they all tell a story. Almost like a roadmap to her soul. She tries to hide her true feelings by creating walls between herself and others by using profanity and threats."

Miranda was becoming impatient and blurted out at Kelly. "Yes, yes we all want to know the tragic story of her life but how will she react on mission?!"

Kelly was momentarily drawn aback by the unexpected interruption but quickly regained her train of thought. "Ah, yes. Jack should be no stranger to violence. Her confidence and power likely means that she will be a formidable opponent in combat."

Samara had been silently listening to the meeting until now. She silently rose to a gracefully authoritative position before speaking. "I have noticed that she has no physical scarring apart from the surgical scars; this implies that she utilizes biotic barriers in combat, with an impressive amount of skill. However, I can also sense something within her. A deeply suppressed sense of loss. A longing for someone to care for her. I recommend that one of us become close to her over the next few weeks."

Shepard began running through the possible candidates for the job before finally deciding to shoulder the responsibility himself. "I will attempt to become close to her. If I can, I will try to get her to speak to other members of the crew as well as time goes on," Shepard broke his sentence for a moment and looked directly into Miranda's eyes before continuing. "I don't want anyone else causing her trouble. That goes for everyone. Understood?"

The room resounded with a synchronized "Yes, sir," and the crew began to file out of the room as Shepard hung behind to file his report on the Purgatory mission. A few moments later he heard the doors swish closed and the manual locking mechanism engage. He turned to the door and saw Kelly Chambers standing by the door with her customary smile on her face. "Commander, I would like to speak to you about Jack. I admire your choice to make her feel welcome but I feel I should warn you a bit before you undergo the task." She stepped up beside his chair and lightly placed her hand on his forearm and looked into his eyes before speaking, which was a drastic change in tone for her. "Commander, she is a broken person. She approaches sex casually and makes her intentions obvious. I would not be surprised if she comes onto you and if you want any of her respect, Commander, resist her attempts at seduction." Kelly smiled warmly at him and suddenly had a spark of realization flash through her eyes. "Oh, and you have a message at your private terminal. It's from the Illusive Man. It's about retrieving a Krogan doctor known as Okeer. Flight Lieutenant Moreau has already been forwarded the coordinates and is prepared to travel there as soon as you give the order, Sir."

Kelly then unlocked the door and casually strolled into the halls of the Normandy.


	3. Introductions

Chapter three: Introductions

Shepard decided he should start trying to become close to Jack as soon as he possibly could. He wrapped up his report before walking to the elevator and hitting the button for deck three. _I suppose I should bring Jack some food, she's likely hungry after using all of that biotics back on the Purgatory,_ He thought as the elevator slowed to a halt and the doors swung open. He walked to Mess Sergeant Gardner and placed his hands on the counter. "What have you got Gardner?" It must be good since those rations finally came in."

"I've got a special treat, Commander. A homeworld favorite: good old fashioned chili." Gardner turned towards him with a smile on his face and steaming bowl in his hand. "It's an old family recipe, actually. I took the liberty of saving you the first bowl. You are the captain, after all." Gardner delicately placed the bowl in front of Shepard and started to turn away before Shepard stopped him.

"I'll actually be needing a second bowl tonight. Oh, and some beers if you have any." Shepard knew how strange his question had to seem but he held his ground nonetheless.

Gardner turned back and began fixing another bowl of chili and he spoke to the Commander over his shoulder. "The chili I can help with, but I don't have any alcohol for you. Seeing how we're a privately funded organization rather than a military funded one we are allowed to change the rules a bit, but the alcohol ban still stands. I hear that our resident thief, however, has gotten her hands on an impressive stash. I don't know where she got them but I would guess that they weren't acquired by 'legitimate' methods." Gardner faced the Commander once again and laid the other bowl beside the other. Then he simply nodded and returned to his duties.

 _I suppose Kasumi's quarters are my next stop,_ Shepard thought as he picked up the bowls and headed onward to the infamous thief's room. As he neared the door he called out to her. "Kasumi, I need a few beers for this evening! Word is that you have an impressive collection of everything alcoholic!" The door quickly slid open in front of him and Kasumi bolted out of it and put a finger to his lips.

"Shhhh, Shepard. Don't say that so loud! If any of the crew hear that they'll be clawing at my door like Vorcha. Also, Garrus has been trying to swipe a bottle of rare Turian brandy from my safe and I can't let him figure out its locking mechanism." She cautiously scanned the room before for Shepard to follow her into her quarters. She locked the doors before walking over to a painting that sat against a nearby wall. She slid it out of the way and entered a passcode before a panel of a nearby wall slid open to reveal a large and fully stocked fridge. She slid the painting back into place and stepped up to the fridge and opened a small port on its side before inserting a familiar little box into it; Keiji's Greybox.

Shepard grinned at the overly secure safe and couldn't help but release a small chuckle.

"What's so funny, Shep?"

"You're worried about Garrus figuring out that locking mechanism? Not only is it hidden inside the wall but it is also locked with Keiji's Greybox, which there is only one of in the entire galaxy."

"Oh, shut up," She swung the fridge door open and grabbed a glowing blue bottle before stepping out of the way to reveal the large collection within. "You didn't see Garrus when he heard that I had this liquor. It was funny, really. Maybe I'll let him have it once we're done with the Collector's." She motioned to the fridge as she continued to analyze the lightly frosted bottle releasing its faint glow in her hands. "Take whatever you want, Shep. I don't exactly drink much so I have no other use for it."

Shepard grabbed a few cases of beer and got the elevator before punching the button, which was relatively awkward to do on account of all of the clutter in his arms, and turning back to Kasumi. "Thanks for the goods, Kasumi. About that Turian liquor; Garrus would really appreciate the thought." He stepped into the open elevator and struggled once again to push the button for Engineering.

A few moments later he was in staring out into the cargo bay from the windows of Engineering. He had only realized once he had arrived on the floor that he actually had no idea where Jack was going to be on this floor. He thought through all of the places before his train of thought was interrupted by a solid metallic thud against the bottom of the walkway, a few moments of silence, and then another thud. _Is she in the maintenance storage area?_ Shepard made his way to the staircase to go below and the thudding slowly grew in volume as he neared the central point. He peered around a nearby corner and saw Jack laying casually on her back, twirling the knife she recovered from Kuril in her hand. She threw it into the ceiling above her before pulling it free with her biotics. _Well, I suppose that explains the sound._ He stepped around the corner and began to speak until Jack quickly flipped to her side and threw the knife in his direction; burying it to its hilt in the wall.

"What the hell are you doing down here, Shepard?" She asked as she moved to a sitting position. "I told you to keep anything Cerberus away from me."

"I am. I brought you some food," Shepard lightly raised his arms up to let her see their contents. He stepped closer to her and sat down on a nearby crate and handed her a bowl before setting his own down. "You see, I'm a biotic as well," he emphasized his point by pulling the knife from the wall behind him and catching it as it lightly floated towards him. "And I know that a display of biotics, especially one as large as you showed on the Purgatory, takes a lot of energy out of you. Also, I wanted to get to know you a bit. Cue these." He tossed her a beer before cracking open his own bottle and leaning back against the wall.

"Look, Shepard, I'm not much for exchanging life stories or hobbies." She lightly pressed the bottle to her lips and took a long sip. "But I haven't had quality food or a single drop of alcohol in a long time. So, I guess I owe you a few questions. Shoot."

"Alright, so my first one is obvious. Why the tattoos?" He picked up his bowl and began to eat as she began her answer.

"Some are for kills; the good ones. Some are for my past and that's not your business. It's nobody's business. The others? Because why the fuck not? See these skeleton hands around my neck? They're for the time I had to strangle a Krogan War-Chief with my bare hands on Omega. Let's just say that someone owes me a debt because of that one." She stared off into the distance as a faint smile crossed her face until she noticed Shepard was staring at her. "Next question," She said as she picked up her bowl.

"Alright. Why were you locked up on the Purgatory?"

"Shit, why wasn't I? Kidnapping, piracy, vandalism, murder, theft, etcetera."

"Vandalism? You were thrown into prison for vandalism?" Shepard asked as he cracked open new beers for Jack and himself.

"Vandalism is what the Hanar call it when you hijack a space station and crash into one of their moons. Turns out they _really_ liked that moon. That's also how I was landed with the piracy charge. Enough questions about me. It's my turn to ask you some, Shepard."

"Fair enough. I'll answer any that you have."

"Why are you doing this? This whole mission? Hell, you could pirate with this ship and be a powerhouse. I'd even help out here and there." She said with a sly grin crossing her face as she took another long drink.

"You'd be my First Mate?" Shepard had to admit, the idea did kind of appeal to him. Going rogue with all of the Illusive Man's money and his ship. However, their mission was too important.

"I would coordinate the boarding parties. And handle the executions." She said as her tone grew dark.

"Okay, I have one more questions for you. Why do you enjoy killing so much?"

"The way I see it every person I kill increases my chances of living just a little bit. Survival of the fittest. Now, get out of here, Shepard. I'm done talking for now. Let me know if you want me to go on mission with you."

"Actually we're heading out on mission tomorrow. Up for it?"

"Yeah. Come get me then."

Several hours later

Shepard stepped out of the elevator in Engineering with his full suit of armor equipped and his weapons on his back. He walked down the stairs to where Jack's impromptu quarters were located but was surprised to see that she wasn't there. He was just about to leave when he heard someone clear their throat behind him and there stood Jack, a shotgun loosely hanging in her hands.

"Are we ready to go now, Shepard?"

"Garrus is waiting for us by the shuttle already." Shepard said as he went up the stairs to the Elevator once again. "We're heading down to retrieve a Krogan doctor named Okeer. Honestly, we don't know what we're expecting but EDI's scans of the area have shown numerous heat signatures around a central point. Could be some kind of complex. We're dropping in on the outer skirts and pushing our way to our man."

"Great. Lots of assholes between us and the prize. This will be fun."

SHIFT

The shuttle had just dropped the team off in a large opening surrounded by large walls of rusted metal and a few mounted speakers that were blaring commands.

"Giving commands over loud speaker, eh? Someone likes the sound of their voice," Garrus deadpanned.

"Okay, the first of the thermal readings is just around this bend. It seems like something is going on here so let's try and keep one alive to interrogate him." Shepard said as he neared the corner and peered around to see a large group of Blue Sun mercenaries patrolling a large checkpoint constructed of beams and rusted sheets of metal. He motioned for Garrus to get into position before preparing his biotics.

Garrus nodded once he was in position and waited a few moments before putting a round through an unsuspecting merc's head with a sickening thud. Shepard quickly stepped out of cover and slammed a mercenary to the ground with bone-crushing force before tearing another off of his feet and towards Jack, who used her own biotics to drive him into the ground in front of her. She pulled a sniper from his perch above and let him fall to his death as she focused her attention on the men before her. She and Shepard were dealing with the mercs up close as Garrus picked them off from a distance with extreme efficiency. Eventually they were standing amongst a field of broken and bloodied corpses and scattered debris.

"Well, they weren't so tough. Damn it feels good to be out again." Jack said as she ran her hands over her shaved, sweat-lined head. She saw a flash of movement before snapping to see a mercenary taking off up the nearby hill to the main facility. "One of the sons of bitches lived!"

Garrus came over their earpieces as he adjusted his view through his scope. "Don't worry, I've got this." A sharp crack was heard in the distance and the man fell to the ground hysterically clutching at a large hole in his right shoulder. "Scratch one."

Shepard ran to the man and lifted him to his feet before unsheathing his pistol and jabbing it under the man's chin. "Tell me what is going on here. Why are there so many mercenaries here?"

The man stared to the three of them for a few moments before releasing a heavy sigh. "Fine. It's not worth god damn bleeding out. We're here with Jedore. She wants an army of Krogan and she's having that Krogan doctor, Okeer, grow them up in the Hot Labs. He keeps trying and trying but they come out wrong somehow and he flushes the rejects down here and we take care of them. That's all I know." The man's eyes flicked from Shepard's face to Jack's as Garrus casually strode up behind with his rifle rested on his shoulder.

"I heard it all over the earpiece, Shepard. We're dealing with a band of rabid Krogan here? Shit. I guess these will be needed." Garrus reached up and turned a dial on his sniper and a bright yellow icon of a bullet shattering a shield appeared; armor piercing rounds. "The headplates on Krogan can take one hell of a hit, but this beauty and I shouldn't have a problem. I'll allow you to tend to our friend here while I climb that vantage point over there and get an idea of what we're up against."

Shepard watched Garrus get to his position until he was out of sight and he then turned to the cowering mercenary he had at gunpoint. He turned to Jack and nodded to the man. "What are you thinking we should do with him?"

"I could care less honestly. We're here for the Krogan, not to babysit some whiny merc. End him."

Shepard dropped the man to his feet before walking away and firing a round into the man's back as he walked up the hill towards Garrus and Jack. "What's the situation up ahead?"

Garrus didn't take his eye away from his scope as he scanned the horizon. "We have a few more checkpoints up ahead but there's something weird going on down there. Join in on this frequency and listen to this. It's their radio feed. I tapped into it a few moments ago."

Shepard flicked his Omni-tool to life and tuned to the frequency Garrus had given him. "Who the hell did this?! Was it Okeer?! Oh shit, they're coming through the central tunnel system! All units move to deal with the Krogan at the tunnel entrance!" Shepard watched as all of the mercenaries below them hastily grabbed their weapons and abandoned the haphazard checkpoints. "Jedore wants all available units to cut off access to her position, now!"

Shepard switched off the frequency and knelt beside Garrus. "Well, this just became a lot easier. Let's get going, Garrus."

A few minutes later, Shepard and his squad were nearing the base of the main facility when faint gunshots were heard ringing out in the distance. They all exchanged glances, silently wondering if the noise had really happened, when another series of gunshots once again broke the silence. Shepard motioned for Jack and Garrus to follow as he tore off in the direction of the shots. After making their way past a proverbial maze of metal scraps and rusted beams they were standing on the edge of a large open area. The area was surrounded by tall metal walls, each one had a squadron of mercenaries that were firing down onto a single Krogan that was taking cover behind one of many pieces of metal that were scattered throughout the expanse.

Shepard drew his pistol and began firing on the mercenaries and his squadmates followed suit. The Krogan was momentarily stunned by the additional gunfire before joining in on their assault. Kinetic rounds tore through the air with violent hisses as the fight raged on until every last Blue Sun was dead. The Krogan stepped forward to face Shepard, causing Jack and Garrus to draw their weapons on him. He lowered his head to Shepard's and took a deep breath. "You don't smell like this world. You smell different. New. For seven light cycles I have felt nothing but the urge to kill, but with you something urges me to speak."

Garrus's neck craned back in surprise. "Wait, seven light cycles? You're only seven days old?"

"Within seven days they're fully grown and they have the inborn knowledge of weaponry and tactics. If you had to train them they wouldn't be much better than any other mercenaries." Shepard added. "Are you from Okeer's group?"

"Okeer? The voice never said anything about this 'Okeer' that you speak of."

"What voice are you talking about?"

"The voice in glass mother. I called it father. It liked that. It spoke to me as I learned all of the things I needed to know. Speaking. Shooting. Running. Fighting. But one day the voice stopped. I was imperfect, so I was flushed from glass mother and I am now here."

Shepard gazed at the Krogan quizzically for a few moments before regaining his composure. "Can you help us get to the glass mother?"

"Glass mother is up. Behind many of you small fleshy things. However, I will help you," the Krogan said as he walked over to a large slab of metal that was partially blocking a doorway. He dusted off his hands before hefting the massive piece of metal and tossing it to the ground nearby with a resounding thud.

"Rough stuff, I like it," Jack commented.

"Here is the path to glass mother. I cannot join you however. I must stay here and wait to be called." The Krogan then walked back to his previous position in the center of the opening and sat down.

Shepard turned to the pathway into the facility and motioned for Garrus to take point before drawing his own sidearm and surrounding himself with a biotic shield. The tunnel quickly grew dark as they made their deeper within. Their advance slowed to a crawl as every step became calculated and tedious. They continued uninterrupted for a few more minutes until echoes of blood-curdling screams and infuriated roars came flooding down the corridors. They finally reached the end of their tunnel and it opened into a large pitch-black space.

"Sounds like the Krogan have made their way through all of Jedore's defenses," Shepard whispered to Garrus as they carefully stepped further into the palpable darkness. "We're going to need some light in here but only enough to see. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Garrus, use the light on your rifle but keep it dimmed down."

"Affirmative, Shepard. I'll have to adjust it to dim after initially turning it on though so you may want to shield your eyes," Garrus said as he adjusted his rifle so he could reach the small switch on his rifle. He flicked the switch and a bright beam of light sliced a path through the darkness and in its wake stood a Krogan wearing blood drenched armor. It snapped to Garrus quickly and its eyes were bloodshot and crazed. It charged Garrus and smashed him to the wall a few feet away and sent his rifle clattering to the stone floor. It spun on the ground and its piercing beam of light caught the attention of countless Krogan throughout the room before stopping a group of them that were huddled in the corner. They shielded their eyes briefly before releasing roars of anger that seemed to shake the room. They all broke out into a mad dash to extinguish the brilliant light and there was soon an inexorable stampede of scales and bloodlust rumbling its way towards them.

"Well, fuck me," Jack breathed as she scanned the wall of Krogan charging towards them. "Shepard, you better have a damn good idea!"

"At the moment I think it would be best just to run!" Sheaprd screamed as he rushed to Garrus's aid. He smashed the Krogan aside with his biotics and fired a few rounds into it before pulling Garrus to his feet and draping his arm across his shoulder. The injured Krogan was now to its feet and it was only further enraged by the damage Shepard had inflicted. It reared its head back to crash it down upon Shepard until a deafening crack filled the cave and it fell to the ground in a heap, a large hole blown into the side of its head. Shepard turned to see Jack holding Garrus's rifle with a grimace on her face.

"Take this fucking thing and I'll carry the weak link!" Jack said as she ejected the spent thermal clip. Shepard helped her shift Garrus from his shoulder, warranting a few grunts of pain from the Turian, and he grabbed the rifle from Jack. "Now figure out a way out of this fucking place before we get torn to shreds!"

Shepard scanned the large space and saw a staircase leading up on the opposite side of the room. "There! All we need to do is stay on this catwalk and we can skirt around the edge of the room! Go, now!" Shepard fired a round into the lead Krogan's head and it fell to the metal grating and slid a few feet, tripping a few of the group behind him. The Krogan were now at the section of walkway that Shepard was on and they were forcing their way closer to him as their numbers were slowly dropping. Shepard was backpedalling away from them and looking over his shoulder every couple of moments to make sure Jack and Garrus were safely to the exit. Once they were safely there he holstered to the rifle to his back and sprinted up the staircase and found a control panel for a nearby bulkhead. "Jack get behind that bulkhead now!" He joined her on the other side and fired a round into the control panel, sealing the Krogan inside.

Garrus was chuckling lightly despite the pain it caused him as Shepard looked to Jack. "Damn, Shepard. I thought you were going to let me die for a moment back there. Trying to skip out on that debt from the Purgatory?"

"Good to see that nearly dying twice under my command doesn't unnerve you a little bit." Shepard added with a chuckle of his own before signaling the Normandy. "Joker, we need a pickup down here now. Garrus has been injured and we need the med-bay on standby. Give Chakwas the news. I'm sending the coordinates."

"Hear that Garrus? I might not have to haul your corpse onto the Normandy." Jack added in her usual tone.

A few minutes later a Cerberus shuttle drifted down through the atmosphere and halted just beside the squad. A group of men came out of the shuttle, laid Garrus into a stretcher, and sealed the doors of the shuttle before returning to the Normandy. Shepard and Jack were going to continue the mission on their own.

"Okay, Jack. We've only got a little bit further to go," Shepard said as he began working his way up a large steel staircase that led to what appeared to be the top of the facility. The steps were slick with blood and there were mangled corpses on nearly every awning with the bodies of the few Krogan the men were able to bring down strewn across the platforms. When Shepard reached the top he found himself in the middle of a field of corpses. There were hunks of gore caked to the stone floor and blood was pooled around the room in numerous places. Bodies lined the walls and lay sprawled in the blood. There were massive casualties from both sides and there were no survivors visible. At the edge of the room there was a crimson stripe stretching across the floor that lead to a pair of doors that had been forcibly ripped open during the attack. Shepard began to follow the trail out of the room and soon entered a room with a large window looking over a roomful of large incubation tubes. Near the window there was another water filled tube kept off to itself. Within the tube there was a large Krogan that appeared unique from any that Shepard had ever seen. Its headplate wasn't a solid plate of bone like other Krogan, instead it was a large scaly mass. His skin was not the typical sickly pale. It was a bright orange that faded to a pale orange hue closer to his core. His armor was a flawless silver color that gleamed in the light that refracted through the water. As Shepard examined the brute of an alien before him the doors they had entered swung to life and a large Krogan stepped through.

"Ah, so you're the one that has been tearing your way through the rejects and the remnants of Jedore's forces. Only one man could possess the skill to do this but the long dead Shepard couldn't possibly be walking amongst us again, now could he? And if he were alive then why would be sent to fetch me, Doctor Okeer?" The large alien spoke in its gravelly voice.

"How could you possibly know that it was me? I've been dead for two years." Shepard answered in amazement.

"But how could I forget the butcher of Virmire? The man who bathed an entire facility in nuclear fire simply to stop the possibility of another Krogan uprising? Do you realize what you did to the Krogan?"

"No, but I'm sure that you're going to remind me." Shepard breathed out in irritation as he crossed his arms.

"You maintained our bloodline. You kept us pure. I despised Saren's pale horde and his idea that numbers was more important than quality. This specimen you see before you is my legacy. He is pure in blood and righteous in design. But Jedore is willing to end my legacy with the turn of a damned valve! She's a floor below; with the rejected tanks. Stop her before she kills my work and I will remain here to do what must be done." Okeer strode to the tank and linked his omni-tool into its system.

Shepard and Jack made their way to the staircase down to the lower floor and stopped just before the door to examine a puddle of blood with a ripped package of medi-gel laying in the center. "It looks like whoever was bleeding all over the fucking place finally managed to patch themselves up." Jack commented as Shepard examined the thick crimson liquid. "Let's get this shit over already." She drew her shotgun and switched her safety off before stepping into the room. She was immediately blasted back against the wall in a large flash and a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared Shepard saw Jack kneeling with a light purple pulse surrounding her. Her biotic barrier disappeared and she ran to the nearest piece of cover.

Shepard peered around the corner to see a slender woman with a missile launcher lazily hanging in her arms. She had a large wound on the upper portion of her forehead and the blood trail ran down her face and covered her breastplate. She staggered as she loaded another projectile into the weapon and hoisted the devastating machine to her shoulder.

Shepard squeezed the grip of Garrus's rifle as he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. He tightened it to his shoulder and stepped out of cover, his intended target slowly coming into focus in his scope. A moment later and his crosshairs lightly hovered in the center of her forehead. He released a small breath and pulled the trigger, releasing a kinetic round that tore a path directly through Jedore's brainpan. The launcher fell from her hands and fired a stray missile into a nearby ventilation system.

EDI came over the radio directly after the explosion. "There is a leak of toxic gas in the laboratory above, Commander. I believe that there may be no survivors if the leak persists."

"Fuck! We need to get up there now!" He screamed before he ran for the staircase to the lab. He used the outer control panel to ventilate the room and entered as soon as the process was finished. Okeer lay dead in front of the tube and a small recording was playing explaining how Shepard had to take the large Krogan with him.

Shepard radioed Joker as he watched the recording replay itself. "Joker, we're through here. Okeer is dead but we have some cargo to pick up. Bring the Normandy in close and low with the emergency loader active. It's a big one."


	4. New Arrivlas, Old Faces

Chapter four: New arrivals, Old Faces

Shepard filed his report to the Illusive Man and then called Miranda and Jacob to join him in the debriefing room for a discussion over what to do with the encased Krogan. When they finally arrived they all stood around the table and debated over what to do with him.

"We have a veritable ticking timebomb sitting in our cargo bay! I cannot recommend that we let him out, Commander. It would be far too risky." Miranda suggested.

Jacob pondered for a few seconds before hesitantly speaking, "I have to agree with Miranda on this one, Commander. We know nothing about him apart from the fact that he was created by a Krogan madman. We have no idea what to expect."

"Hold on a second, Jacob. Let's bring in another opinion," Shepard said as he pressed a button for the nearby intercom. "Kelly, report to the Debriefing room now."

A few moments later Kelly stepped through the doors with her trademark smile on her face. "Hello, Lieutenant Taylor. Good evening Operative Lawson. What can I do for you, Commander?"

"We're trying to reach a verdict on what to do with our newest piece of cargo and I thought we could use your expertise in psychology. Can you give us a guess on his mental stability?"

Kelly halted for only a moment before she had formed her improvised analysis. "Well, I only had a psyche report for Okeer but I am sure that he designed this Krogan off of himself to some extent. Even if he did not then he is still a Krogan and he will carry the inborn mindset. He will be fiercely territorial and he will relish combat and things that challenge him. I suggest that we let him out. It would be interesting to have a chance to see the world through his eyes."

Shepard looked to each of the faces in the room before deciding. "I'll go down to the cargo bay and open the tank. He is too valuable an asset to lose and his power will definitely come in handy. Dismissed everyone."

Shepard followed the crew out of the room and immediately made his way to the elevator. It began its descent and EDI's hologram flickered to life on its installed holopad. "Greetings, Commander Shepard. I am bringing you to the Engineering Deck and I have already begun preparing the Krogan for extraction. All you are required to do is start the draining process and confirm the specimen's release."

"Good, EDI. Once I enter the room I want you to seal the door's emergency bulkhead and lock down the window shutters. Just in case he gets loose we can't have a wild Krogan tearing through the halls of the ship," Shepard quickly stepped out of the elevator when the doors slid open and turned into a room filled with crates, the Krogan's large tube resting against the rear wall. The door slid shut and a second door could be heard sliding into place behind it as the bulkhead firmly bolted itself into place. Shepard stepped up to the tank and activated its draining sequence. The door slid open and the thick unclouded liquid poured out onto the grate floor of the cargo bay and rushed past Shepard's boots. He stepped further back from the tank and watched as the Krogan slumped out of the tank and smashed to his hands and knees on the metal floor, violently coughing up the same liquid he was submerged within. The coughing subsided and was replaced by heavy and raspy breathing. Shepard cleared his throat to speak and the Krogan snapped to the sound and noticed his presence. He was immediately to his feet and lifted Shepard into the air with ease and flattened his back against a nearby wall. He pressed one of his forearms against Shepard's throat as he examined him. He grimaced at the man before him before speaking.

"You. Before I kill you, I need a name," It replied in its deep and rumbling voice, unlike that of any other Krogan. It wasn't sick and raspy like others, instead it carried a healthy thunderous tone.

"I'm Commander Shepard and this is my ship. I released you from that tank," Shepard said as he nodded to the machine.

"Not a name for you. I need a name for myself. I heard many words while I was in the tank but none of them stuck. Grunt. Legacy. Pure. Okeer. Grunt, it will do."

Shepard maintained his composure despite his extremely compromising position and continued to speak to the lumbering Krogan that had him immobilized. "Really? You wouldn't prefer Legacy, or Okeer?"

"No. Okeer tried to shape me in his image but his clan nor his legacy hold no merit to me. Grunt will do. It suits my purpose in this world. Why should I not kill you, human?"

"This is my ship and this is my clan. We are a strong clan and you would make us even stronger." Shepard replied confidently.

"Hmmm, I suppose that will have to do. In the future when I find my clan, when I find what I..want. It will be an honor to pit them against you."

"I'm glad you saw reason." Shepard said as he nodded down and brought Grunt's gaze down to the pistol that Shepard was pressing to his abdomen, the barrel resting just above a soft spot in his armor.

Grunt laughed and dropped Shepard to his feet and took his free hand and shaking it. "I like that, Shepard. Offer one hand and arm the other. If you ever need me I'll be down here or wherever you keep the food."

Shepard holstered his pistols before hailing for EDI. "EDI! You can unseal the bulkhead and open the shutters. Everything is fine in here and I'm now on my way to see Garrus and Thane about those things they needed help with."

"Affirmative, Commander Shepard. The doors are opening now. However, the Illusive Man needs you to contact him via the projection pad in the Debriefing Room. He has an urgent mission for you." EDI replied in her soulless voice.

Shepard sighed deeply before striding off to the elevator and heading back to the command deck. He entered the room and the conference table sank into the floor and the projection pad beneath it came into view. He stepped onto it and the scanner soon had his dimensions measured and was projecting them to the Illusive Man. A silhouette soon appeared in front of Shepard and its details soon began to chisel into the same familiar face Shepard had been seeing for weeks now. The clean pressed suit, the ever-present cigarette, and the bright blue eyes soon came into view.

"Ah, Shepard. I trust everything is going well?" The Illusive Man said before taking a long drag from his cigarette.

"The team is doing well, if that is what you are asking." Shepard responded brusquely.

"Not exactly but it is still good to hear. Shepard, I have a mission of extreme importance for you and I needed you to know first. The nearby planet of Horizon is projected as the Collector's next big hit and luckily I have already instructed your pilot to bring the Normandy around. I do have to warn you, Shepard, that the Collector's will be there in force and they aren't known for going quietly so I hope that Mordin's countermeasure for the Collector swarms is ready. One more thing. Ashley Williams will be there." The Illusive man said as his glowing eyes pierced into Shepard.

Shepard's heart skipped in his chest when he heard Ashley's name and he instantly prepared to set foot on the planet. "Affirmative, Sir. We'll get in and repel the invasion within the next hour."

"Good. I'm putting a lot of trust in you, Shepard. Don't make me regret it." The Illusive man's form flickered out of vision and the communicator went dark.

Shepard immediately head out to ask Mordin about the countermeasure. He entered Mordin's laboratory to find him leaning over a microscope and lightly humming a tune to himself. Shepard wandered to a nearby box that housed a single Collector swarm drone that was buzzing around angrily within its transparent prison. It darted at the glass when it saw Shepard, cracking the glass in a jagged pattern.

"Ah, found the specimen I see. Very anxious when confined. Good news however, Shepard. Countermeasures are ready for use and they should allow us to repel and even disable any drones. Small transmitter connects to armor and sends out pulses that disrupt drone groups and forces them to disperse. Any that then get too close will have electrical systems overwhelmed by signal." Mordin said confidently as he smiled to Shepard and showed him a series of different sized transmitters. "A unit for each member of team, thus the different sizes. Also doubles as targeting device for Normandy should any member be captured. Must take precautions." Mordin handed Shepard his own transmitter and then began to carry the box out of the room before halting and turning back to the Commander. "I would prefer that you deliver this to Jack yourself," He said as he handed Shepard another transmitter. "She is quite intimidating. I will give rest of crew theirs." Mordin and Shepard both headed for the elevator. Mordin got off at the crew deck and Shepard rode the elevator to the engineering deck and headed down to Jack's hiding spot.

He rounded the corner to see that the wall behind her bed was covered in tally marks and she was carving yet another into the wall with Kuril's knife. "Jack, what the hell are you doing?" He asked as he neared her bed.

"Hey 'ya, Shepard. I'm just trying to get a count of my kills and so far I haven't reached an end." Jack turned and sat on her bed with her back pressed to the wall and knife lazily hanging in her hand. "What's the box? This Cerberus's idea of tagging me or some shit?" Jack gave the box an incredulous look before looking to Shepard with a skeptical look in her eyes. "Please tell me we're not about to carry that shit, Shepard."

Shepard turned the box in his hands before tossing it to Jack. "Actually, we are. It's Mordin's countermeasure to the Collector's drones. It'll keep them off of us and allow us to make our way through the colony for search and rescue. Now get up and get to the armory. You, Grunt, and I are the initial strike team and then the rest of the crew will come in afterwards to assist in the rescue of the colonists."

"Alright. Let's get this shit over with, Shepard."

 **Two hours later** , Jack, Grunt, and Shepard had fought their way through numerous housing complexes before arriving at a garage where they encountered an Alliance engineer who had locked himself inside while the Collector's abducted the rest of the colony. He told them the location of an anti-air battery that was never restored to full operation before the Collector invasion. Shepard and his team had now pushed their way to the location and providing a massive defense against an onslaught of Collector and Reaper forces as the large battery was preparing to fire.

Shepard fired his Avenger rifle into a crowd of Husks that was rushing their position while Grunt and Jack were dealing with the Collector forces that were taking cover behind the crates scattered throughout the area. Shepard sent a shockwave through the group and tore them from the ground and dashed them against any surface nearby. He reloaded his rifle before hailing the Normandy. "Joker, send out a shuttle with the rest of our team to our position now! We need support! Garrus is to be dropped off in the field to the East of our position so he can provide sniper support!"

"Roger that, Commander. ETA is forty-five seconds." Joker immediately chimed over the earpiece.

Forty- five seconds until their support arrived. Only forty-five seconds. Shepard ran to Grunt's side and tapped his shoulder before doing the same to Jack and falling back to a defensible position. The enemy forces were soon bearing down on them by the second and their ammunition was running low which meant they all had to rely on close-quarters combat and biotics. The rounds tore through the air with a vicious hiss as their opponents now stood directly on the other side of their cover. Grunt's biotic barrier pulsed to life and he mantled their buffer with ease and began tearing a path through anything that stood in his way until a large mass of Husks was able to pin him to the ground and knock his unconscious before turning their attention on Jack and Shepard. They prepared to hold their ground but were interrupted when a thud sounded in the distance and large round tore through numerous of the Husks. The shuttle then came tearing down through the atmosphere and its door swung open and a hail of gunfire streamed from the wall of soldiers standing within it. It touched down and the team poured out and scanned the area as the shuttle took off once again.

Zaeed strode to Shepard and tossed him a large bag of thermal clips. "Looks like you three could use this, or at least you two could." He said as he noticed Grunt stirring from his blow. They all turned their attention to the sky as an unbearable shriek filled the air and a ball of fire streamed from the Collector flagship in the distance. The object smashed to the ground nearby and lay dormant for a few moments before legs burst forth from its form and the shriek filled the air again with an earsplitting volume. The creature's maw was filled with human and thick purple webbing. It hovered into the air before releasing a massive beam of energy that burned its way through numerous crates that the crew had taken refuge behind. It continued to destroy any cover that could be seen before turning its weapon on the team members. The entire team unleashed their weapons on it as it fired upon them. Shepard holstered his rifle and pulled out his missile launcher, recovered from Jedore's corpse, and trained it on the large creature. He unleashed a missile that streamed directly into its cadaverous maw and it fell to the earth in a heap.

The crew slowly moved away from their positions and looked to the creature until it began to hover once again but this time it was emitting a bright yellow glow. It pulsed a blinding light and began bellowing at them. "I AM HARBINGER. YOUR RESISTANCE IS FUTILE SHEPARD."

Its large beam once again charged to life and unleashed its scorching energy on the team. Shepard ran for the nearest building he could as he thought of what to do to stop the creature. The transmitter. They hadn't seen drones for a long time and it was a tracker. "Joker! Lock in on my transmitter and fire the Normandy's main cannon when I say so!"

"Uh, Commander, you do realize that you're connected to that transmitter, right? You won't be walking away from it."

"Just do it!"

"Ugh. Alright, fine."

Shepard detached his transmitter and hurled it underneath the large beast and dove for cover as he screamed for Joker to fire. The courtyard erupted in a flash of energy as the Normandy's weapons blasted a crater into the ground. The heat wave blasted through the surrounding area and the scorched earth within the crater was still slightly hissing as the crew gathered around the edges to look to the twisted form that lay in pieces at the bottom of it.

EDI came over the radio with her calm, collected voice. "All guns are active and firing now."

The crew looked to the horizon and saw the large Collector ship being rapidly blasted by the guns. Its engine soon stirred to life and it slowly began to ascend into the skies before disappearing from sight. The Alliance engineer they had met earlier came sprinting up from behind and was breathing heavily. "No, they got away! They took my wife and kids! They, they took everyone!"

Shepard's patience with the man had reached its end and he finally snapped at him. "Don't run up here preaching at me about how I let them go! We saved half of this colony while you cowered in that garage like a child!"

Miranda stepped up behind Shepard and placed her hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, Shepard. You gave it your best and saved most of the colony."

The engineer began to turn away but snapped back to Shepard in realization. "Wait, did she say Shepard? Aren't you some kind of Alliance war hero?"

Before Shepard could answer, a familiar female voice came from the crates behind the engineer and interrupted his train of thought.

"Commander Shepard, the hero of the Citadel and the man who survived death. You're standing in the presence of a god," she said as she stepped into the open with a longing look burning in her eyes. "Why didn't you contact me in any way?"

Shepard quickly closed the gap between them and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I have been in a coma, or worse, for the past two years, Ash. I wasn't even awake until a few weeks ago when Cerberus brought me back to consciousness."

Ash broke from his embrace and stepped away from him with a look of betrayal across her face. "My God, it's true. The rumors were going around but nobody wanted to accept it as true. The Alliance suspected that Cerberus was behind the abductions so I was stationed here to see if you showed up. We were right on that part at last, but we bet on the wrong team. How could you do that to the Alliance? To Anderson? To me?" Ash said as she continued stepping further away from Shepard and the crew.

Garrus came over the intercom with a surprised tone in his voice. "Is that who I think it is, Shepard?"

"Wait, you're got Garrus too? Where is he?" Ash asked.

"He's two-hundred yards back on top of that building," Shepard said as he jabbed over his shoulder with his thumb.

Ash looked back to see an overly-excited Garrus waving back to her with a rifle draped over one shoulder.

"Ash, join me. We could use a soldier like you with us on the Normandy. It would be just like the old days again. Please, join me." Shepard pleaded with Ash as he held back the tears that were welling up within him.

"No. I don't know what happened to you but I still know where my loyalties are. I'm an Alliance soldier, always have been and always will. I have to go file my report to the Council. Take care of yourself, Skipper." The last word sank into Shepard and brought back every memory of their time together. Saving Liara. Killing Fist. Having to drag her onto the Normandy on Virmire. Stopping Saren. Their first night together on the Normandy and the numerous others that followed.

Shepard turned to face his crew and realized that they had all lost interest in the conversation long ago. Zaeed sat on a nearby set of stairs, cleaning his rifle with his trademark steely gaze while the others all stood around him making idle chatter. All except for Jack. She stood a few feet away and her eyes never broke from Shepard, even when he locked his own with them.

He brought his hand to his earpiece and hailed to Joker. "We need extraction now. I've had enough of this fucking colony."

 **Several hours later** , Shepard lay on his back in his bed holding a holographic picture frame in his hands with Ash's picture displayed on it. He stared at the image as tears once again began to sting his eyes like the memories that stung deep within his being. He sat up on the bed and stared at the picture in his hands and he slowly began to grow angry. Before he could realize it, his grip began to tighten and the frame began to bow and twist in his hands. He stood and threw the object against the wall with all of his might. The contorted frame fell to the ground and flickered a few times before the image permanently disappeared. Shepard stooped to pick it up and took it over to his trash bin. He hit a button on the wall and a small slot opened in the wall. He sat there for a few moments with the object in his hands, the only piece of Ash he had left, before slamming it into the slot and shutting it. He knew that he had to do something, anything, to take his mind off of Ash.


	5. Past Sins

Chapter five: Past Sins

Shepard walked through the halls of the Normandy for what seemed like days until he finally decided to drink his sorrows away. He knocked on the door of Kasumi's quarters before the doors swung to life and a very sleepy Kasumi stood on the other side. "Why the intrusion, Shep? I need sleep too you know."

"I came to take a look at your drink cabinet, Kasumi. I apologize but I was going to treat myself this evening and I can't exactly do that without alcohol." Shepard replied to the groggy thief.

"This isn't about the girl on Horizon? Olive skin and dark hair? Blew you off and basically called you a traitor?" Kasumi asked as she shifted her weight onto one hip and crossed her arms.

"Kasumi, please, you aren't my mother for Christ's sake. I just need something to drink, alright?"

"Fine, whatever. If anyone asks where you got the alcohol that you drowned yourself in I'm not accepting responsibility." Kasumi said as she stepped to the fridge and once again opened it to Shepard.

He scanned the bottles before grabbing the strongest two that he could find and walking out with them in his arms. He made his way back to his quarters and flopped onto the couch before cracking the top off of one of the bottles and pressed it to his lips before hoisting it into the air. The brown liquid burned its way down his throat with a satisfying tinge before finally coming to a rest. Shepard knew that he wouldn't be feeling anything for a while due to his biotics but he kept drinking nonetheless. The bottle began to near its end before Shepard pulled the bottle from his lips to take a breath. When he lowered the bottle he was surprised to see Jack standing on the other side of the couch with her arms folded across her chest and a disgusted look on her face.

"Hey, Jack!" Shepard replied jovially. "Grab a bottle and take a seat!"

"No. I'm not some pathetic fucking coward who won't even face his own feelings. What exactly are you trying to accomplish with this shit, Shepard?"

Shepard sat for a few moments, his clouded mind trying to form a response. "I'm drinking her away. What else is there to do?"

"Get the fuck up and move on? Be a fucking man and do what has to be done?" Jack said as she snatched the bottle from Shepard's hands. "Not destroying yourself to try and make her go away."

"How the hell would you know?" Shepard asked curtly.

Jack stared at him with no emotion on her face before responding with a single word, barely loud enough for Shepard to hear. "Murtock."

"Who the hell is Murtock?" Shepard asked as he pawed at the bottle in Jack's hand like a child.

Jack took her own deep swallow from the bottle before taking a seat on the couch. "He was some asshole who took advantage of me just like the rest. For sex, for biotics. It was fun for a while. We got a tip on a weapon's deal that some Batarian mercs were doing. After we showed up, everything went to shit and we ended up separated. He had a choice: take the score or leave me behind. The fucking idiot chose me. He abandons the loot and wades through the squints to get to me but I ended up at the shuttle without him. I waited for as long as I could but I was being overwhelmed and I had to get out of there," Jack said as she stared at her feet. She took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "So, I keep drifting for about a day and this recording kicks on. It's Murdock telling me about how much I meant to him and how we were going to use the money from the score to start a life together. He told me about how he wanted to build a home for us and that we would settle down. So much for that, huh?" She said as she looked up to Shepard with tears lightly glimmering in her eyes. She noticed this and quickly wiped them away before standing up and stepping away from the couch. "Get your shit together, Shepard. Come down to my place in the morning and we can talk about something. I'm taking the bottle with me." After that she pressed the bottle to her lips and walked to the elevator.

As morning came, Shepard sat up from the couch and scanned the room before noticing the other untouched bottle of liquor still sitting on the table a few feet away. "I'm glad for biotics." He mumbled to himself as he stood and tried to rub away the soreness in his neck from sleeping on the couch. He took a quick shower and donned a new uniform, seeing how he had a strong smell of alcohol, and began to sit down to plot out their next mission when EDI's voice filled his cabin.

"Good afternoon, Commander. I believe that Garrus and Thane would still like to speak to when you have time. Also, Jack would like to speak to you in Engineering."

"Wait, afternoon? What time is it at the moment, EDI?" Shepard said as he quickly stood from the couch and entered the elevator.

"It is approximately 14:45, Commander. Would you like me to have Gardner prepare lunch for you?"

Shepard cradled his head in hands and released a deep sigh. "Oh God, EDI. Have Gardner start a meal for me while I go to Engineering to check up on Jack."

A few moments later the doors of the elevator shot open and Shepard began to step out before he realized that it had come to a stop at the CIC rather than Engineering. He nearly rammed into Kelly before stopping himself a few inches away from her. She jumped back, a startled yelp escaping her mouth before she quickly muffled it with her hands. "Oh, Commander, you scared me. I was actually coming up to see you. Jack confronted me earlier about you not being awake yet and I must say that you are a brave soul, Sir. She is quite intimidating."

"Kelly, I apologize for anything that she said to you. What exactly did she say to you?" Shepard asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"She said, in her exact words, 'Get the man down here before I have to start taking matters into my own hands' and then she shoved me against a wall before entering the elevator."

"Once again, I apologize for that, Kelly. Oh, by the way could you do something for me?"

"Anything, Commander. Just say the word." Kelly said as her contagious smile crossed her face.

"Once the elevator gets back up I need you to go down to Gardner, grab my meal, and take it up to my quarters." Shepard stated as he backed up into the elevator.

"Yes, Sir."

The last thing Shepard saw as the doors slid shut was Kelly's smile as she watched him leave. He stepped out once the elevator came to a stop once again and was on the steps down to Jack within moments. As he neared the corner he heard pacing footsteps from up ahead, followed by quiet muttering and light sobs. He rounded the wall and was immediately noticed by a seemingly crazed Jack. She continued pacing as she stared into his eyes, her gaze never leaving them. "I've got thoughts running in and out of my head like bugs, Shepard, and I can't fucking make them stop. You were supposed to be down here sooner," Jack said as she stormed off down the hallway and sat down on the bottom step of the staircase, cradling her head in her shaking hands. "I've told you about my past with Cerberus before, but did I ever tell you how far back it goes?"

"No, you haven't." Shepard said as he joined her on the steps and laid a hand on her shoulder. For once she didn't pull away from his touch, only lightly flinching at the unexpected sensation.

"When I was a kid they held me in a facility and tortured me for years on end. Eventually I broke out but everything went crazy when it happened. The other kids attacked me, the guards attacked me, and the automated defense systems attacked me. I was running for my life the entire time. But I found something in those Cerberus files. It's the facility that I was held in. It's on Pragia and I want to go there, _myself_ , and plant a big fucking bomb in _my_ cell and watch from orbit as it goes up in flames." Jack was now looking Shepard in the face with tears once again shimmering lightly in her eyes. She turned from him to avoid feeling weak. "Now get your hand off of me. I'll be down here whenever you need to come get me."

Shepard slowly withdrew his hand from her and stood on the steps. "Alright, Jack. I'll give Joker the coordinates and have Mordin prepare the charge for us. I'll come get you once it's done." Shepard quickly paced back up the steps and headed for the cockpit.

Once all preparations were made, Jack and Shepard were on an inbound shuttle to Pragia. Ever since they entered the atmosphere their shuttle had been beaten by a torrential downpour of rain. Thunder cracked in the distance and the sky was illuminated in jagged flashes every few moments. The pilot soon relayed to Shepard that the facility would be coming into view soon. A few moments later and a large facility came into view its walls covered in foliage. The only open spot was a badly worn shuttle pad where they would be dropped off by the shuttle.

Jack peered out of the window and her eyes were filled with dread at the sight of the building. Shepard knew it would be hard for her but he knew there was no going back from this point. "Jack, I know that you're a bit anxious about entering this place but there is no stopping this now. When we start a mission, we finish it."

Jack's eyes shot to him and then back to the facility before she took a deep breath and relaxed in her seat. "Trust me, I can do this. It's going to be rough for me though."

Shepard took a few moments to pick up their ordinance, an eight megaton nuclear device that Mordin and Garrus rigged from an old fusion core. Shepard carefully strapped it to his back and looked out of the window as the shuttle began to lower onto the roof of the building. "Alright, Jack. EDI's scans showed no thermal or electrical sources so we're going to be alone here. Feel free to take all the time you need."

The shuttle door slid open and the incessant rain poured into the open shuttle. Jack and Shepard quickly exited the shuttle before jogging their way into the facility. Once they entered, the sight was not any more comforting than outside. The rainfall had caused water to pool in the floor, enough to submerge Shepard's boots to his ankles, and debris lay scattered across the room. Wires and hunks of metal jutted out from the water in all directions and vines grew up the walls in their eternal quest to reach higher ground. Jack slowly began slogging her way through the water until she came upon a series of rusted and torn crates.

"Those were the crates that they would transfer new kids here in. The poor bastards were half-starved and crazed, but alive, usually. I must have come through this room on my way out but I don't remember it. Let's go. The next room should be the main atrium."

Shepard followed Jack as she made her way through the next room in a trance. Examining every little thing until they came upon a large circle made of concrete barriers, in the center were numerous bloodstains in the metal floor. Jack stared at it motionlessly, her eyes carrying the weight of her memories. "This was an arena. They would pit me up against other kids in here. I loved it."

Shepard looked to the impromptu gladiator cage and then back to Jack. "They made you kill other kids? What the hell was wrong with these people? Did you have a choice?"

"When I resisted I was shocked, and when I attacked they flooded my veins with drugs. I still feel tingles when I kill."

As they continued to examine the circle of stone they were interrupted by a low growl that echoed by many more. They turned to see a pack of wild Varren emerging from the shadows. Their bodies were frail and emaciated from hunger and they had chunks of flesh missing from numerous parts in their bodies. The pack leader was in an intense staring contest with Shepard, waiting for him to back down. The large creature launched itself at Shepard with a snarl, its long nails carving deep gashes into the floor. Shepard drew his pistol and fired a single round between the creature's eyes and side-stepped its corpse as it violently slid across the ground in a heap. The rest of the pack fell into dissention as they made a mad dash for their fallen leader's corpse and began tearing into it.

Jack uttered a single mirthless laugh as she watched the scene unfold. "That is exactly how the fucking world works. You think you're on top until you fall. Then the people you trusted come around to take everything you have left."

She entered the next room and descended a large staircase with a Varren corpse laying at the bottom with numerous high caliber bullet holes blown into its side, thick cyan blood still oozing from the wounds. Jack bent down to inspect the corpse as Shepard scanned all of the nearby rooms. "I thought the fucking robot said this place was empty, Shepard. If that's true then who the fuck shot this Varren?"

Shepard was looking around one of the nearby rooms when he spotted a door with a sign loosely hanging beside it. He brushed the dust from the plaque and it read courtyard. "Hey, Jack! Is this the way we're heading?"

Jack was soon standing directly beside him and he motioned to the plaque. She stepped through and Shepard followed her out onto a catwalk hanging above a small patch of overgrown bushes and small trees with a single large tree growing in a twisted and sickening shape, the very embodiment of the atrocities committed within the walls of the facility. She slowly paced to a nearby window and placed her hand on it and her mouth hung agape as she stared into her own grime veiled reflection. "All this time. After all this time I finally figure out that it was a one-way mirror." She pressed her cheek to the glass, completely disregarding the mud and filth covering it. After a few seconds she looked back into her reflection before closing her eyes and addressing Shepard. "My cell is on the other side of this pane. I could see all of the other kids in this courtyard every day. I would scream myself hoarse nearly every day trying to get their attention. I always thought that they hated me."

She opened her eyes and turned towards the opposite side of the catwalk to the door. Above it hung a door with the words _Operating Room_. She took a ragged breath and started to walk, wrapping her arms around herself as her feet shuffled along. The door opened before them and they entered a dimly lit room littered with operating chairs and storage containers marked _Element Zero_ , their metals still glowing a faint blue even their contents had been removed long ago. In the center of the room hung a single operating light still letting off a dim light. Beneath it sat an operating chair that was firmly bolted to the floor. Shattered restraints hung loosely from it at various positions and blood could still easily be seen through the dust that had accumulated on it. Jack looked to the chair and took a pained breath before turning away from it.

"That was the chair designated for me. The restraints were designed to keep me to the chair while they operated on me."

"They gave you no anesthetic? They didn't put you to sleep?" Shepard asked as he scanned the horrifying chair in front of him.

"Anesthetic? Ha. They never gave me any of that shit. They claimed that it could interfere with my body accepting the implants. You see this scar?" Jack reached up with one of her hands and traced a jagged scar running along the base of her head. "It happened while I was in here, the day I broke out. I was in this chair when the riot started and I was in the middle of surgery. I heard the alarms and the screams and I seized my opportunity. The restraints did nothing to keep me down and the doctors had no idea I had become that powerful. Turns out if you fuck with a little girl's head enough you create an all-powerful bitch. I got my hands on the doctor's scalpel and you see how that ended."

Shepard looked to the ground beside the chair where the floor was stained a faint brown color from the blood. "These monsters aren't worthy of the term scientist, Jack. I know it doesn't mean much but I'm sorry."

Jack turned to him with a faint smile on her face before it faded into the same scowl as usual. "Even though I was bleeding like hell I fought my way through the main facility, killing everything that stood in my way. By the time I made it to the shuttle pad I was about to black out until I stole the shuttle and took off. I found a ship after a few hours and they helped me with my head wound, but then it turned bad. I'm not going to tell you what happened after that. Let's get this done." Jack said as she left the room and went to the next. When they entered they were met by a roomful of Vorcha, Varren, and a trio of Krogan standing on a balcony on the opposite side of the room. The lead Krogan put his hand to his earpiece when he caught sight of them.

"Aresh, this is Kurek. The intruders are here and they are heavily armed. But if you want me to take care of them we have to talk payment. You promised me credits! But all we have found since we got here is salvage and rain!" Kurek stood motionless for a few moments, listening to a response over the earpiece before a vile grin spread across his face. "Alright, Aresh. You've got yourself a deal. Alright, men. Kill them but leave their gear intact, it's our payment."

They both took off for the nearest piece of cover and drew their weapons as all of the mercenaries began firing upon them. The rounds connected uselessly against their cover, Jack releasing a stream of profanity as the gunfire carried on. Shepard stood from cover and had already dropped two of the Vorcha until a horrifying thought struck him. "Shit, the bomb! Jack, cover me while I go take this thing off!" He sprinted into the operating room and immediately worked on removing the bulky object from his back. He had already worked one strap off when he heard the roars of Krogan ring out from the opposite room before the gunfire stopped. He quickly shrugged off the other strap and entered the room, expecting the worst. In the center of the room stood Jack. Her eyes were still glowing a faint blue and she was drenched in blood. The room was littered with the broken bodies of the mercenaries that were locked in the room with her. She noticed Shepard and was quickly in his face with an enraged look on her face.

"Why the fuck did you leave me in here? Why did you abandon me in here with them?!" Jack said as the intensity of the blue in her eyes began to grow.

Shepard started to speak but was dissuaded when he felt the tip of Jack's signature knife pressing lightly against a soft spot of his armor just above his ribs. "Jack, I would never leave you like that. Under any circumstances. I had to take the bomb off of my back. If a stray round had hit it we would have both gone up in flames along with this facility."

Jack's knife lightly pressed deeper against him before it was pulled away. "Okay. I guess I don't have to kill you then. Go get the bomb. We can't exactly blow this place to hell without it."

Once Shepard had returned with the bomb, he found that Jack had already begun to enter the next room. She stopped directly before the door and turned to Shepard. "Whoever this Aresh is, he'll be in here. I already wanted to plant the bomb in my cell. I don't see any difference in doing it on his corpse." She said as she drew her pistol and stepped into the door. The room was strewn with scrap and pieces of equipment that had been salvaged from deeper within the facility. Terminals and monitors sat all around the room but the remnants of a room could still be seen. A tattered bed lay on its side against the wall and a weathered desk sat nearby with scrapped machinery scattered across it.

Shepard walked to the crowded desk and began sorting through the random junk as Jack made her way through the scrap to her bed. They were both interrupted when a figure shot out from the scrap and made a path for the door. Jack quickly pivoted and caught it in the back with a biotic push, sending it crashing to the cluttered floor. They ran to its side as it violently tried to get back to its feet. Jack pressed the barrel of her pistol to its head and its struggling soon ceased.

Shepard switched his flashlight on and finally brought the figure to light. It was a frail, gaunt man with wild hair and a crazed look in his eyes. His teeth were chipped and decayed from long periods of neglect. His eyes locked on Shepard and he looked at him as if he knew why he was there. "Are you, Aresh?" Shepard asked as he examined the man's outlandish appearance.

"Yes, yes, I am Aresh!" The man said as he tried to raise himself from his knees only to lower himself again when he felt the cold metal of Jack's barrel pressing against the back of his head.

"Why the fuck are you here?" Jack asked through bared teeth.

Aresh turned his head to Jack as if he knew her and a haunting, toothless grin crossed his face. "Oh, you know exactly why I'm here Subject Zero. Or should I say Jack? I was here at the same time that you were. We were tortured so you would survive. I want to restart the Teltin Facility. To see humanity ushered into a new age of biotic power."

Jack was paralyzed with fear and she looked to Shepard with a disappointed scowl on her face and a pleading look in her eyes. The embodiment of her past sat at her feet and she didn't know what to do about him. Her emotions screamed within her and her memories scratched at her mind furiously. "God damn it, Shepard!" Her hands tightened on the pistol in her hands and she once again locked eyes with the commander. "What should we do about him?"

Shepard looked at the scene before him. The mad man that lay prostrate before Jack, his eyes burned into Shepard only further cementing his madness. The pistol that was pressed tightly against his head and the confused woman that was holding it.

"Kill him, Jack. There's no way that he could outrun a nuke. Shoot him. You're killer. It's what you do."

"Are you sure, Shepard? It doesn't feel right." She looked to Shepard expecting an answer, but the only one she received was silence.

"Fuck! Alright." Jack tightened her grip on the pistol and dug the barrel into Aresh's head before pulling the trigger, blowing a large hole in the back of his head and splattering blood across the faces of both her and Shepard. Shepard removed the bomb from his back and primed it before setting it as close to the center as he could. He pulled a small device from his pocket and lightly handed it to Jack before closing her hands over it.

"That's the detonator. We need to be at least two miles out to escape the heat wave so we're going to two and a half. Once we're at a safe distance, hit the button whenever you like. Now let's get back to the shuttle."

Five minutes later they were nearing their safe distance. 246…247…248…249…250. Jack had been flicking the detonator open nervously for the entire ride until Shepard looked into her eyes. Their blood flecked faces lay motionless as they took in the one truly silent moment they had experienced in a long time. They took in the sight of the other as faint smiles crossed their faces. Jack flicked the detonator open one last time before hammering her thumb down onto the switch. The horizon was painted a blinding orange and the trees were flattened to the ground as the blast wave ripped through the jungle. The flames slowly expanded in their direction, swallowing anything that got in its way. Jack leaned back in her chair and took in all that had just changed in her life. The one relic of her past was now gone. The only thing that would carry on the horrors of Teltin was her and her alone.

Shepard went to the shuttle pilot and ordered him to return to the Normandy before he took his seat and cradled his head in his hands, running them through his rain soaked hair. Jack watched him as he looked at his feet in contemplation. He had helped her when no one else would. He did more for her than anyone else in her life was ever willing to do.


	6. Sins of the Father

Chapter Six: Sins of the Father

Shepard stepped off of the transport once it was docked in the shuttle bay and began talking to the pilot about a problem that the shuttle was experiencing on entry. Jack stepped off and was already half way to the elevator before Shepard was able to break off of his conversation with the pilot and catch up to her.

"Hey, Jack. Mind if I come down to see you tonight?" Shepard said partially playfully as he caught up to her. Jack stepped into the elevator without paying Shepard's attempt at conversation any mind. He stepped in behind her. "Jack, you alright?" he said as he attempted again. Jack stared blankly at the floor as the elevator doors opened into the Engineering deck. She quickly stepped out, her weapons still equipped and loaded. Shepard considered going after her for a few moments but decided against it and continued up to the armory.

Once the elevator reached the main deck he immediately went to the gun rack and unequipped and cleaned his weapons before proceeding up to his quarters to remove his armor. He clambered out of the elevator and immediately began shedding the thick metal pieces. He placed them on their respective holders and walked to his dresser to grab a new uniform and a towel until he noticed something resting on the table. The tray from Gardner was sitting squarely in the center of it with every bit of food still untouched.

"Well, shit. The steak still looks good." Shepard sat down at the table and ate his meal before climbing into the shower to try and wash away the images from the Teltin facility. The children being transported in cages. The doctors treating the children like animals. Jack being tortured by Cerberus for years. Jack. Shepard's mind soon took a different path and he found himself shaking his head in denial as the water flowed over him. "No, no. God, I am actually doing this," Shepard said as he exited the bathroom and was soon in uniform once again. He took the elevator to Engineering and nearly ran into Engineer Adams as he rounded the corner to go below.

"Ah, Commander. I appreciate those power couplings that you brought us a few weeks ago. I had wanted to thank you personally for quite some time but I have had far too much work to do. Tali is also very appreciative given how it has shortened the amount of work she has to do as well." Adams said as he assumed an at ease position.

"It was necessary for the ship to run at maximum capacity, Adams. It was nothing personal. Since I ran into you, I need a status report on Engineering," Shepard said as he grew more authoritative and serious.

"Engineering is running at peak efficiency, Sir. You've got the best team of engineers outside of the Flotilla. Our own resident Quarian engineer has had a massive hand in that, however."

"Keep it that way. Dismissed." Shepard said with a brief salute. He then continued down to Jack to find her laying on her cot and staring at the ceiling.

Shepard stepped closer to her. "Hey, Jack. Are you feeling any better about Pragia? I know that you weren't exactly in the mood for talking earlier." He said softly.

I don't know. I really truly don't, Shepard," Jack answered; finally feeling comfortable enough to be honest with Shepard. The relief she felt was enormous, and she continued. "After years of believing I would never remove that fucking nightmare of a place from the universe I was proven wrong," Jack said as she shifted so she could look Shepard in the eyes. "And it's all because of you. I don't know what to think about that."

Shepard looked down to his and thought of what to say. As this continued for several moments, Shepard realized that all of his stress from the previous weeks was gone. He knew that there was still the problem of the Collectors to face, but he felt strangely at peace with Jack. He knew what he wanted; there was only one answer to their situation. Shepard looked up to her she was already sitting upright on her bed.

Jack stared into his eyes and her tone was obviously serious. "Are you having feelings for me, Shepard?"

Shepard was startled by the unexpected question but was able to quickly recover. "Yes, Jack. I am. Does that scare you?" Shepard asked with a small smirk.

Jack was immediately to her feet and balanced herself against a nearby wall with her face away from Shepard. "Then stop having them. I'm not worth it."

"Hey," Shepard said comfortingly as he quickly walked over to her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "You're worth it Jack. Don't ever say that you aren't again. We can get through this together."

She didn't shutter at his touch or remove his hand from her this time. She took a deep breath and Shepard mentally prepared himself for a rant, but instead he received a hushed whisper from Jack.

"I would only fuck you up," Jack said as she buried her head further into own chest. "I'm not good at the lovey-dovey bullshit. I never have been."

"Jack, we can make this work. I know that we can get through this," Shepard said as he lightly turned Jack to face him.

"Get out," Jack said, once again barely audible.

"What?"

"I said get out, Shepard. We'll talk later. I need some time to think. Don't bother coming around here for a while," Jack said as she ushered past him and returned to her bunk.

"Alright, Jack." Shepard said as he made his way to the elevator. Once inside, his posture slightly stiffened and he hit the button for the main deck. Shepard cross arms and leaned back against the wall as he silently contemplated what to do about his feelings for Jack. He grew more and more anxious until he could no longer contain his feelings. He knew that he had to get rid of his frustration somehow, and there was only one way he knew how; he had to kill something. Shepard hit the button for the crew deck and the elevator came to an almost immediate stop. He stepped out and made a beeline for Thane's quarters. Once he stepped through the door he found Thane lounging at a table with his hands folded in front of him and a thoughtful look on his face.

"Ah, Commander Shepard, take a seat," Thane said as he gestured to the seat across from him. "I hope this is regarding the matter I require your assistance in. Although I suppose require is not fully true. I can do it alone but I prefer that you be there."

Shepard took the seat and was quickly growing anxious again as he listened to Thane explain their mission. "My son, Kolyat, has become disconnected-" Shepard zoned out and his anxiety soon began to boil into anger. Not anger for Jack; just anger for everything that had happened to him. His mind flashed back to the assault on Torfan and the things that he did. The slaves. The blood. The stench of the tunnels. It was then that he realized that he realized that Thane was still talking to him. "-I believe he has taken a contract on the Citadel. Likely a public official or someone that the local gangs want silenced."

"I'll have Joker punch in the coordinates and we'll be there within the next few hours." Shepard said as he stood and walked to the door. He stopped directly in front of it and turned back to Thane. "Once we get there I will come back down to get you."

A few hours later, Thane and Shepard had boarded the Citadel and talked to Captain Bailey regarding the location of Thane's son, Kolyat. They discovered that they needed to track down one of Thane's old contacts named Mouse for further information on their mission.

"Mouse was always one to enjoy taking advantage of those who are not in a clear state of mind.

I suggest that we search around the local clubs and bars for him." Thane said as he and Shepard weaved their way through the large crowds of the station.

"Right," Shepard said as he checked the nearby signs to gauge their direction. "Well fortunately we're just beneath the nearest club. We'll head on up and look for him there. Also, I have just now started taking an interest in my fish tank and I wanted to shop around a bit." Shepard looked to Thane to find that he was giving him a blank stare. "What? I was going to get weapons and such too." Shepard said jokingly, trying his best to hide his true intentions for coming on this mission.

"I will continue on to the club to search for Mouse. You go to the stores and search for him while you browse the wares." Thane said before completely disappearing from sight in the crowd.

Shepard made his way to the storefront and was in the middle of extorting a Turian shopkeeper when he heard a familiar female voice from behind.

"If it isn't the undead Commander Shepard himself," Sheaprd turned to face the woman that was speaking to him. Khalisah bint Sinan al-Jilani; the reporter who tried to do a smear report on him back when he was tracking down Saren. "I have been dying to get an interview with you ever since I heard you were making waves again."

"Mrs. Al-Jilani, I believe you would not want to hear what I have to say to you," Shepard said as he exited the shop to get closer to the reporter. "Especially not on camera."

"Nonsense." She turned to the camera drone buzzing over her shoulder and it flicked to life and began recording. "Now, is it true that you are now on a Cerberus payroll?"

"Yes, I am. That doesn't mean that I believe in what they do or that I'm no longer going to uphold Alliance ideals."

"At the Battle of the Citadel you decided to let the Council die to save human forces attack Sovereign. Did you make this decision due to tactical standing or because you despised the Council?"

Shepard's rage was sparked to life once again and before he knew it he had closed the gap between Al-Jilani and himself, his right hand dropping to his side. It hand cocked down by his waist and he stopped only inches from her face.

"I am tired of all of your bullshit interviews that do nothing but try to make me look bad, and if you continue this line of thought I will not be quite as cordial as I am now." Shepard said, his tone growing dark.

"Commander Shepard, I am only reflecting the curiosity of the people!" Al-Jilani said as she stepped away from Sheaprd.

His hand flew from his hip and he landed a devastating hook across Al-Jilani's jaw. She fell to the floor clutching her face as blood soon began to flow from her visibly broken jaw. She muttered something about her robot getting all of the footage and that she couldn't wait for the Alliance to see it. Shepard used his biotics to grip the drone and crushed it into a small ball of scrap metal before dropping it to the floor beside Jilani.

"I don't appreciate you trying to sully my name. Now get out of here," Shepard said as he turned and walked off towards the bar where Thane had gone to search for Mouse. As he reached the top of the staircase he saw Thane speaking to a thin and shifty man that appeared to be selling small crates of eezo. He joined the two of them and scanned the crowds around them as Thane wrapped up his conversation with the man. "Have we found Mouse yet, Thane?"

"Yes, Shepard." Thane stated as he took a step back and motioned to the man beside him. "This is Mouse. He isn't very forthcoming with information about Kolyat however."

Shepard scowled at the small man before him. "Tell us what you know, Mouse. I'm not quite as nice as Thane."

"Holy shit. You're Commander Shepard. I still can't tell you who hired him or where he is. These people would kill me if they found out that I squealed." Mouse said hesitantly.

"What and you think I won't?" Shepard said as he clutched Mouse's shirt and ripped him off of his feet towards him. "I am not in the mood for fucking around, kid. Tell me now or I will resort to other ways of extracting information."

"I can't tell you! No matter how much I would like to it would put my life on the line!" Mouse shouted shakily.

Shepard threw Mouse to the floor and firmly planted his boot on the man's throat and began slowly applying pressure. "Are you wanting to tell us now, Mouse? You've only got a few seconds before your throat collapses on itself."

Mouse struggled to lift Shepard's boot to avail. He frantically smacked at the armored pads on Shepard's legs until choked words were heard trying to escape his mouth. Shepard lifted his boot and Mouse shot from his back and clutched at his throat as he coughed wildly. "Okay, okay! It's obvious I'll likely die if I don't tell you! It's Elias Kelham! Just leave me alone."

Shepard stepped away and was already halfway down the steps when Thane reached his side. "Where are you going, Shepard?"

"I'm on the way to Bailey," Shepard said as he forced his way through the crowds, shoving people any person who managed to stay in his path for too long. "He has to know who this Kelham character is. We have him bring the man in and we interrogate him."

Thane followed along silently after that as they made their way to Bailey. Shepard stormed his way into the security checkpoint and slammed his hands onto Bailey's desk. "We need someone down here now, Bailey."

"Shit, Shepard, you damn near gave me a heart attack. But whoever you need down here I'll get to you as soon as possible."

"I need Elias Kelham down here now. He's directly tied to an assassination attempt."

"Shit," Bailey sighed as he rested his head in his hands. "I can help you with anyone but that."

"And why exactly can't you get Kelham down here?" Shepard asked, anger clear in his voice.

"Every years he buys tickets to the 'C-Sec Charity Ball' in exchange for me looking the other way."

"So the son of a bitch bribes you and you let him run amok," Shepard said as he pushed off of the desk and crossed his arms while glaring at Bailey. "God damn, are there any good officers in C-Sec these days?!"

"I am a good officer! It's just that his money has been the only thing keeping the Zakera Ward running for the past two years. Look, I can have a few officers go pick him up in a cruiser and bring him back here. Once he arrives here we'll have him moved to the interrogation room so you two can get as much information out of him as you can, but you'll have to work fast because his representative will be down here within minutes of hearing he was detained."

"Finally, some cooperation. Thank you, Captain Bailey. He'll have no idea that you're involved."

A few minutes later a cruiser pulled up in front of the precinct and two officers stepped out behind a well-dressed man that was furiously ranting about how he wanted his representative.

Shepard and Thane stopped just before entering the room to try and develop a strategy.

"I believe that I should play the role of good cop," Thane said as he mentally prepared himself. "It has been made evident thus far that you are not very skilled with social interaction."

"Alright. Bad cop is more my style anyway. Let's go." Shepard said as he cracked his neck and stepped through the door.

They entered the room and found Kelham restrained to a long table. He immediately snapped to the door.

"Thank God, you're here- wait, you aren't my representative. Who the fuck are you two?" He asked with a sneer on his face.

Shepard immediately drew his pistol and pressed it to Kelham's temple and leaned in close to his ear. "I'm a Spectre. Do you realize what that means? I could pull this trigger right now, paint the walls a nice ruby, and claim that it was for Spectre business and not have any action taken against me. Unless you tell me who you hired the young Drell to kill."

Kelham drew a series of quick panicked breaths. "It's Joram Talid! The Turian politician running for Intendant of the Zakera ward!"

"Thank you, Elias," Shepard said as he holstered his pistol. "You have been very helpful." Shepard then stepped around to the front of the chair and threw a devastating blow against Kelham's jaw, knocking him unconscious.

"Congratulations, Shepard. I believe that you have just set a record for the shortest interrogation in history." Thane said as they exited the room.

"We should check in with Bailey before going to get Kolyat. He may be able to help."

An hour later, Thane and Shepard had been following Talid and one of his Krogan bodyguards through the ward. Shepard was following their path through the halls from the maintenance catwalks that hung above them while Thane kept an eye on them from the shadows. Joram and his Krogan escort were about to enter an apartment complex when Thane and Shepard stopped to search the area.

"Thane, I haven't seen him at all during this entire thing. Are we sure he's even going through with this?" Shepard asked from his position on the catwalk above the courtyard.

"Yes, Shepard. He is here. We don't have to worry about that."

A few moments later they saw a figure break off from the crowd and made its way towards Talid and his bodyguard. Halfway to them the figure drew a pistol and fired upon the couple, severely wounding the bodyguard before his shields could prepare for the impact but the rounds missed Talid completely.

"Thane!" Shepard said as he leapt from the catwalk and sprinted towards the door.

Thane came weaving through the people that had converged around the wounded Krogan; his motions fluid and practiced, and made his way to Shepard without touching a soul. "I saw him. He's going to chase the diplomat to his room. We'll go to the floor with the most expensive rooms available and search for the two of them there."

"I have a better idea," Shepard said as they breached the threshold of the building and ran to the receptionist desk. Behind it sat a small Salarian man who turned towards them with a wide smile on his face. "Talid, Joram. I'm here on Spectre business and we need his room number, now." Shepard said as he drew his pistol and lightly tapped it on the stone countertop.

The receptionist's smile quickly faded and he went into a state of panic and began frantically searching through the access cards hanging on the wall behind him. "Here, take it! It grants you access to the express elevator and will take you directly to the floor if you insert the card!" The Salarian ducked down behind the desk and assumed the fetal position.

Thane and Shepard made their way to the elevator and were quickly on their way to Talid's residence. As they neared their stop they could hear a loud metallic banging and screaming. The elevator doors opened into a long, elegantly decorated hallway with Asari chandeliers adorning the ceilings and Salarian sculptures sat on nearly every table that was pressed against the walls. In front of one of the doors there was a squad of C-Sec officers being led by none other than Bailey himself. A Turian stood in the front of the group and was hefting a large breaching ram and had been trying to smash the door down for a quite a while, according to the numerous dents that were smashed into its metal frame.

"Bailey, how the actual fuck did you manage to beat Thane and I here?" Shepard said as he walked towards the small army that was amassed outside the door.

"We have records on the residents of our ward, Shepard. We looked for Talid's address and stationed this squadron here because it seemed like the most likely place for the assassin to strike. Apparently we were right. The only problem now is that we can't get through the damn door."

"That is why I have this," Shepard said as he waved the access card in front of Bailey. "Thane and I will go in first. If you hear gunshots, come in as quickly as possible."

Shepard swiped the card and drew his pistol once again and strode through the door. He and Thane rounded the corner to find Kolyat standing in the middle of a room that had furniture scattered across the room, obviously there had been a struggle before they arrived. He was holding Joram at his knees, a gun pressed firmly against the back of his head.

Kolyat pressed the pistol tighter against Talid's head as they stepped into his view. "Step back! I will kill him!"

Shepard casually raised his arm and fired two rounds into the Turian's head and let the pistol hang lazily in his hand. "No, you won't. Go on, Thane." Bailey and his men came pouring into the room with their weapons trained on Kolyat only to see that Shepard was the one that had fired the shots.

Thane stepped forward and drew a deep and shaky breath as his cool and unflinching outer shell melted away for once in his life. "Kolyat, you don't want to do this. I didn't want this for you."

The grip on Kolyat's pistol squeaked as he tightened his grip on it before dropping it to the floor. "You didn't want this for me? After all these years you show up and that is the first thing you say to me?! What is this, some way for you to get all of your affairs in order? Some way to cleanse your mind of how you left mother and me? When she was murdered and you weren't there to save her?!"

Thane's eyes began to glisten with tears as his son's words dug into him. The very feelings he had hidden for so long were being resurfaced by Kolyat's anger. "I'm dying, Kolyat. I have Keplar's Syndrome. I wanted to right my wrongs that I made by not being there to raise you. Your mother's death angered me at first as well. I discovered the identities of the men who killed her and tracked them down, hurt them, and once I felt that they had suffered enough I killed them. I then realized that I was no better than them for hunting them like animals. I did not want this life for you. Kolyat, you do not have to give me this chance but I beg of you to allow me to speak to you."

Commander Bailey cleared his throat and stepped up beside Shepard. "I don't think this is quite the place for a conversation such as this. I'll have a shuttle down here to bring us all back to the precinct. There you two can use the conference room to talk for as long as you need. In the meantime I believe you and I should chat, Shepard."

Shepard and Thane were back aboard the Normandy a few hours later once their business with Bailey had concluded. Thane and Kolyat were going to remain in contact, and luckily Kolyat would be serving no jail time for his actions. Instead he would be working for Bailey on the Citadel to help keep C-Sec under control.

Shepard had made his rounds, checked in with Chakwas for his weekly analysis of his implants, and was now sitting in his quarters when he heard a small ping come from his personal terminal to notify him of a new message.

 _"_ _Shepard, I require your assistance in a personal matter. Meet me on Illium and I will explain it to you further. Please, get here as fast as possible. Signed, Liara."_


	7. Into the Den

Chapter Seven: Into the den

Shepard made his way to Illium as quickly as he could and he was sure of what Liara was requesting his help with; The Shadow Broker. Cerberus had received a massive cache of data on the enigmatic character only a few days ago and he had Chambers forward it directly to Liara through encrypted Cerberus channels. Shepard ordered that the crew be given a furlough while they were docked and it was much appreciated by everyone apart from Miranda, who claimed that it was counterproductive. He made his way out of the docking cradle, through the market lobby, and up the stairs to Liara's office. On his way in he noticed her new receptionist, seeing how he shot the last one in the middle of the office. He gave her a casual nod before stepping into the office of his former squad mate. Liara sat at her terminal but her eyes were glossed over and hazy. She was no longer working, she was thinking.

When she noticed that Shepard had entered the room she quickly regained her composure and stood to meet him. "It's good to see you, Shepard. I have learned something from that data that I never thought possible. The Shadow Broker has kept Feron alive for the past two years. After all this time of planning revenge, I can turn this into a rescue," she once again fell into a blank, distant stare before snapping back to Shepard. "I'll send you the coordinates to a location for us to meet at later, for the moment I am going home to gather my thoughts and prepare."

"I will meet you at your apartment. I'll bring some of the squad along so we can get along with this mission as soon as we can."

"Okay, Shepard. Here is the address to the apartment and the access key you will need to get in. I'll be waiting." Liara was immediately out of the room upon the end of her sentence.

Shepard sent for Jack and Garrus to be sent to the nearby transport hub where he would be waiting for them. He made his way to the transport to find that Jack was already there with a cab. "Hey, Shepard. Figured it would be best for us to already be ready to go once the Turian gets his ass over here." She nodded her head to the market district where Garrus could be seen fervently haggling with an Asari merchant. Once his business was concluded he came striding over to the two of them with a small piece of machinery held delicately in his hands and a wide grin on his face.

"What?! Don't you realize what this is?"

"No, I don't. But the best part is that I don't fucking care, either." Jack said as she stepped into the taxi. "Now if you two are done shopping, let's get the hell out of here."

Minutes later they arrived at the entrance to Liara's apartment complex, which was flooded with Illium law enforcement vehicles. Once Shepard had pulled the 'I'm a Spectre' card enough, they finally made their way to Liara's apartment. When they entered they were stopped by an officer manning a holographic police line. "Sir, we're going to need you to leave the area now. This is an active investigation area and you could contaminate the evidence."

"Great, fucking cops." Jack muttered under her breath which earned a small chuckle from Garrus and a sideways glance from the officer.

"Look, we're here for Liara. Is she okay? What happened here?"

"Look, sir, we can't let you through. This is an active investigation!"

A moment later an Asari in navy blue armor came down from a higher level of the apartment and with a wave of her hand she told all of the officers to leave.

"You can't just do that!" The officer at the door protested.

The Asari gave a small smile and a dark chuckle. "It's already been done. Now leave." She then turned to Shepard and his squad, her gaze resting on Shepard a bit longer than the other two. "The great Commander Shepard. I'm Tela Vasir and I'm a Spectre. I hear that your own status has been reinstated as well, which is nice to hear."

"What exactly happened here, Vasir?" Shepard said as he scanned the ruined room around them. Scattered papers and books lay across the floor, either ripped from the bookshelves or tossed to the floor from one of the overturned desks. Shattered holopads sat on the floor, their projectors still lightly flickering on and off sporadically. The kinetic barrier for a nearby window could be heard charging up, the glass had a large hole where a round had passed through it but there was no hole in the floor where the round had impacted with it or the wall.

"Someone came after your friend when she got home. Looks like an ambush more than anything else. You can see where they fired at her from; a building across the street. The rifle as well as its rounds clearly weren't standard issue. The projectile shattered the outer kinetic barrier and made it through the glass before being stopped by the inner barrier."

"Well that explains the hole in the window but what about the stuff strewn across Liara's apartment? It looks like someone came in with a purpose; searching for something maybe. They searched through her books and documents like they were looking for information."

Vasir walked to a pile of papers nearby and sifted through them carefully as Shepard began to ascend the stairs. "Liara knew I was on the way here. She would have left a clue for me to find," he said as he looked around the loft. A set of old Prothean artifacts, some odd Asari artwork, and a large case with his old armor plate locked in it. He walked to the case, his train of thought completely lost as he slowly made his way to large display. This armor was what he wore when he was tore from the Normandy. This was what he had died in two years ago. The protective plating had been superheated during his reentry and melted itself to the frame. Shepard circled his old armor; this piece of equipment was not only a symbol of his fight with Saren but it was now also a symbol of his own death. "My god, Liara recovered it. Hell, she recovered me."

Jack stepped up beside him and gingerly placed her fingertips on the transparent barrier. "So, this is a relic of the famous Commander Shepard, huh?"

Garrus stepped up beside Shepard "Well it's good to see the old suit again isn't it?" he said enthusiastically as he rested his hand on Shepard's shoulder. "It's still a shame about the Normandy. I miss the old girl. Liara was quite fond of it as well back in the old days."

Shepard scanned the room and found a small picture frame with an image of the Normandy SR-1 on its projector. "The Normandy! That's it, Garrus!" Shepard raced across the room for the frame, leaving Garrus in a temporary state of confusion.

"Um, I'm not catching on here. The Normandy is it?" After a few moments of silent thought he came to the realization and raced to Shepard's side. "The clue is in the Normandy!"

Shepard picked up the frame and the image changed to an image of the Prothean beacon back on Eden Prime. "The Prothean beacon? Wait, Liara has a Prothean artifact downstairs!" Shepard went back downstairs and tossed Vasir the picture frame as he made his way through the debris to the artifact. "This piece of Prothean tech is somehow linked to wherever Liara went. But I don't exactly know how at this moment."

Garrus scanned the artifact with his omni tool. "There's a storage compartment in the display case below it. It requires an access code. Maybe the code Liara gave you earlier will work?"

Shepard opened his own omni tool and swiped it across the artifact and a seamless drawer slid out of the bottom of the drawer; a small circular object pulsed orange in the center of the drawer. Shepard picked it up and scanned it with his omni tool. "It's a storage unit. The data automatically moved to my tool and it gave me some notification about the device no longer being safe. What do you think that means?"

Jack took a small step backward and pointed to the storage unit in his hand. "Shepard, you may want to drop that fucking thing. It's getting brighter."

Shepard looked to the object in his hand. It was releasing a bright orange and it was beginning to grow hot in his hand. It began to pulse a violent red and started to vibrate in his hand. "Oh, shit!" Shepard threw the object a few feet away where it clattered to the ground before bursting into a violent fit of sparking and launching itself into the air before detonating.

Shepard slowly returned to his feet carefully, making sure the rest of the crew was okay. "Why the fuck would it explode? I already secured the data!" Shepard scanned through the cache on his tool and soon discovered Liara's location. "She's going to this location to meet with her contact. All it says here is that he's a Salarian. I don't know the location either. Vasir, see if you can make it out," Shepard said before showing her the coordinates.

"It's an area where a lot of people on Illium meet to talk, basically. It has an actual use but no one really cares what it is," She said as she brought up her own omni-tool, "The coordinates are locked into my car. It's out front."

The four of them ran outside and climbed into the vehicle, which Jack nearly immediately complained was cramped. It felt like an eternity as they rode to the location, but after a few minutes they finally stepped out into a large open courtyard. People idly stood around having conversations or sitting at tables and having conversations over lunch.

Jack scanned the horizon and a sneer crossed her face. "This is where she decided to have her meeting at? The most dull fucking place possible?"

The third floor of the building in front of them blew open; bodies and pieces of debris fell to the streets below. The people on the ground broke into absolute chaos. Screaming and running away from the building in the hopes of escaping the destruction. The squad now stood in the center of a wave of terror, and Jack was loving every second of it. "Well, now we're talking! Damn, I love explosions."

Vasir ran back to the car and stopped just before shutting its door. "Shepard, you go in through the bottom floor and try to get as many people to safety as you can while you look for your fried. I'll go to the roof and do the same on my way down. We'll meet in the middle." The door of the vehicle slid closed and the car tore off towards the top of the building.

Shepard drew his shotgun and waded his way through the crowd of people that were still flowing out of the building, Garrus and Jack soon following suit. One of the Turian's running past him grabbed him by the collar of his armor and pointed into the hallways a few feet away. "They're still in there! I don't know why, but they're mowing down any Asari or Salarians that stand in their way!" Shepard tore his hands from his collar and shoved him back into the crowd, which soon carried him out of the building. Shepard redrew his weapon and slowly made his way to the hallway the Turian indicated.

"We should be prepared for some pretty heavy firepower, Shepard," Garrus whispered. "I recommend we change our ammunition."

"Good thinking, Garrus," He whispered back as he switched his ammunition to warp rounds and motioned to Jack to do the same. "I'm going in heavy, so follow my lead."

Shepard peered around the corner and saw two mercenaries, their armor pattern unlike any of the others he had encountered. It was a worn grey with crimson lines meeting on their breastplates. They were standing over a large pile Asari corpses, a similar pile of Salarians lay across the room. They were pulling corpses from the pile one by one, scanning them, and then waiting for a response from an inaudible voice within their helmets.

Shepard stepped out of the doorway and he felt a slight tensing pain in the back of his neck as his biotic implant kicked into action. He felt his heart rate quicken as his body was thrown into overdrive. He tore through the hallway with blinding speed and drove his shoulder into one of the merc's chests, his sternum instantly snapped. He carried him into the wall, his shoulder crushing the man's ribcage, puncturing the man's lungs in numerous places. The second merc frantically grasped for the rifle on his back but was lifted from his feet and smashed violently onto his neck. He lay on the ground twitching violently and choking until Jack walked up and executed him with her shotgun, blood splattering across her face. She shouldered her shotgun and strode down the hallway before a small white object came flying into the hallway, bounced off of the wall, and came to a rest a few feet down the hall.

"What the fuck is that?" Jack asked with a smirk on her face. The object exploded in a ball of light with a deafening bang. Jack fell to her back and backpedalled away from the object before pressing herself into a corner with her hands on her ears. Garrus and Shepard cupped their ears from the noise but even then they could still hear the stream of profanity that was pouring out of Jack's mouth.

"God fucking damn it! The sons of bitches are using flashbangs!" She sat for a few more moments before she regained her hearing and shook her head violently in an attempt to hasten her eyesight's return. She stood to her feet before her biotic barrier flashed to life and took off down the hallway, heedless of Shepard's attempts to check on her as she grabbed her shotgun from the floor. "No one tries to fuck with me and gets away with it!"

Shepard and Garrus looked to one another for only a moment before turning back and finding Jack completely gone. "Oh, shit. This is about to get bad." Just as his sentence ended he heard gunshots in the distance and numerous explosions. The two men sprinted down the hallways, piles of innocent corpses lining them. The bodies of dead and dying mercenaries lay against the walls or on the floor in mangled heaps that were barely recognizable as human. They could hear Jack screaming at someone in the distance to get on the ground and they hastened their pace, hoping to keep her from doing anything rash.

They rounded the corner to find Jack holding Vasir at gunpoint. Vasir was standing over a Salarian's corpse, her armor still dripping with his blood. In one hand she held a pistol, in the other she held an object similar to the one Shepard had found earlier. "Ah, hello Shepard. Did you find your friend's body?"

Shepard opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by a familiar voice behind him. "Do you mean this body?" Shepard turned to see Liara standing behind him with a pistol in her hands. "Shepard, this is the one who tried to kill me. I saw her tearing my apartment to pieces when I tried to double back!" Liara took a step further into the room and trained the pistol on Vasir. "She killed my contact and now she has his information on where the Shadow Broker's ship is."

Vasir gave a dark smile and she pulsed a wave of biotic energy, knocking everyone but Shepard to their backs. He sprinted towards her and tackled her out of a nearby window and tried to position her to the ground so she would take the impact before he realized that they were floating halfway to the ground. She rolled so he was to the ground and pressed her boot against his chest and kicked him to the ground with a solid thud. She floated gracefully to the ground and took off to the roof where her car was parked. Liara and Jack soon came to the ground beside Shepard, with only Jack stopping to help Shepard to his feet. Liara sprinted after Vasir with her weapon drawn.

Garrus hailed Shepard on the radio. "Shepard, you go ahead and catch up to Liara! I can keep you covered from the perch up here!"

A door on the opposite side of the courtyard that they now stood in and a team of mercenaries stormed through, one of them immediately slumping to the ground from a round from Garrus's sniper. The rest took cover and didn't even see Jack and Shepard slip out of the room after Liara. They tore through the hallways following the gunshots ringing out ahead of them. They ascended several floors before reaching the roof where Liara and Vasir were firing at one another from behind cars that been left behind in the chaos of the explosion.

Vasir tapped on her omni-tool and the car that she had arrived in earlier came drifting over the edge of the building with its door open to her. She ran for the edge and leapt into the car as Shepard took numerous pistol shots at her, the door closing just in time to catch them. Liara ran to a nearby taxi and placed a small yellow disk on its hood and after a few moments the car roared to life. She let Jack into the back seat before jumping into the passenger seat, soon followed by Shepard sliding behind the wheel. He fired the car's boosters and launched into a busy street behind Vasir.

"There!" Liara screamed, pointing at a red car that was wildly weaving in and out of traffic in a desperate attempt to escape from Shepard's view. "Okay, I've tagged her car. Wherever she goes, we'll be able to track her."

Shepard looked back to the road to see a large tanker truck jackknifing in the center of the road. "Oh, shit!" He jerked the wheel and barely avoided colliding with the tanker only to find himself now barreling directly through oncoming traffic. Vasir's car came slicing through traffic ahead of them and Shepard was soon out of the traffic behind her. A few moments later, the door of Vasir's car swung open and a large spherical object flew out and turned itself directly towards Shepard's car. It slammed into the hood and exploded, cracking the windshield and tossing the vehicle against a nearby wall. "Why the hell is she using mines?!"

Liara reached around the cabin flicking switches and pushing buttons in order to return the car to fully functioning condition as Jack released yet another of her strings of profanity from the backseat. Shepard slammed his foot onto the accelerator and the vehicle lurched into traffic once again.

"What kind of weapons does this thing have?!" Shepard said as he narrowly dodged vehicle after vehicle in order to keep up with Vasir.

"It's a taxi, Shepard. It has a fare meter!" Liara screamed at him as she brought up her omni-tool. "I'm locking onto her vehicle at the moment. I'll be able to shut down her boosters for a few seconds and allow us to catch up to her," Liara said as she continued to tap away on her wrist, "We will only need to keep up with her for thirty seconds."

Shepard turned back to the road to see another tanker turning over in the center of the road. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. Again?!" Jack screamed from the back seat.

Shepard dodged the vehicle and entered a large intersection full of holographic billboards. One of which showed a massive poster with Jack's mugshot calling for her arrest. Shepard turned to Jack to find her staring at the poster with her mouth hanging agape and a puzzled look in her eyes.

"Jack, how the hell have you managed to get in trouble while you have been with us the entire time?" Shepard said as he returned his attention to the road.

"I have no fucking idea! I may have shot a few people when I got pissed off earlier but they all looked like mercs at the time!"

"We'll pay your bounty after this is though. For the moment, there's Vasir's car!"

Liara couldn't help but smirk as she finished her hack of Vasir's vehicle. "And now it's useless."

Shepard activated the rear boosters and smashed into the back of the stalling vehicle and it was sent into a nosedive towards the roof of a nearby building. It crashed to the solid ground and rolled several times before spinning to a stop, the vehicle now little more than a flaming wreckage. The door slowly opened and Vasir crawled out of the wreckage clutching her left leg, which was twisted at an unnatural angle. She limped into the building as Shepard landed the car near the doorway and climbed out as quickly as he could. He drew his weapon and entered the doorway to a gruesome sight. Vasir had killed everyone inside. Asari, humans, and Turians of all ages lay sprawled across the floor with holes blown through them. He could hear screams in the distance and sprinted out into a large garden. On the other side of the tranquil scenery stood Vasir, a human woman hugged to her chest with a pistol to her head.

"Let me go, or the woman dies," Vasir said as she dug the barrel into the woman's temple. "Make your choice, Shepard."

Shepard laughed darkly and drew his pistol. He aimed it directly at the hostage and looked Vasir in the eyes. "Do you think that I care about a single hostage? I sacrificed the council to spare human lives at the battle for the Citadel." He pulled the trigger and a round tore through the woman's head and Vasir was left clutching a limp body against her chest with a mortified look on her face. Shepard sent a biotic push into her chest and smashed her against a row of stone statues. She clutched at her side and blood began trickling from between her clenched teeth.

"After all this time of planning you ruin it. You always find a way to fuck with people's plans don't you Shepard?" Vasir said as she slid herself higher up the wall to catch her breath. "The only difference now is that you have a Cerberus insignia on your back rather than an Alliance banner. You and that psychotic bitch." Vasir nodded to Jack before spitting blood her mouth and giving Jack a wide, bloody grin.

Shepard stomped on Vasir's wounded leg and pressed his pistol to her forehead. "No one calls her that." He pulled the trigger, splattering the stone a thick crimson. He searched her pockets and soon found the disk she had stolen from Liara's contact. He tossed the device to Liara and strode off towards the wrecked taxi that they had arrived in.


	8. Assault on the Lair

Chapter Eight: Assault on the Lair

Shepard, Jack, and Liara were on a shuttle inbound to the coordinates that they had received from the second data drive. The Normandy was hanging back due to a large lightning storm that was constantly raging on the planet. The ship that they were heading to was supposed to be massive, according to the small packs of data that contained schematics.

"It looks like we are to have to land as soon as we find the ship," Shepard said as he watched the endless lighting crack through the clouds around him with ominous rumbles. The clouds around them sparked on and the air seemed to rumble until the shuttle drifted out of the thick orange blanket and into a large, calm opening. In the center of the opening sat an enormous ship; numerous lightning rods jutted out of the ship like a metallic fin slicing a clean path through the clouds above, a particularly large rod towered over the others from center of the ship. At each end of the ship sat numerous large solar panels that were powering the ship that was large enough to be this planet's moon.

Shepard looked to the datapad on the side of the window as Liara joined him by his side. "By the Goddess, it's massive. It needs the lightning rods to power itself as well as the more obvious use of protecting itself from the storm. The solar panels on its ends indicate that it follows the sun around the planet and uses the sun as a power source to keep up this mass effect field that is keeping the clouds from reaching any closer to the ship."

She took the pad from his hand and began scanning her way through the abundance of information and images. "We will land on the far end of the ship and push our way to that central lightning rod. There is a maintenance hatch beneath it that we can use to access the base." She gave her own armor a look over before turning to Shepard with a slight grin on her face. "Are you prepared for this, Shepard?"

He retrieved his helmet from his storage locker and locked it into place before responding, his voice slightly syntethized by the voice modulator. "Breaking into a ship owned by the most enigmatic character in the universe, not knowing what could be waiting for us on the inside? What's not to love?" He reached back into his storage container and pulled out a shotgun and tossed it to Jack, who was sliding a small transparent breathing device onto her face. "Are you ready for this?"

She caught the shotgun and finished latching the mask on her face before releasing a short chuckle, standing, and cracking her neck loudly. "You're damn right I'm ready. Close quarters and the potential for a lot of unmarked credits." She let the shotgun hang loosely in her hands as she stepped up to the window beside the other two.

Liara strapped her owning breathing apparatus to her face and finished just as the shuttle came to a delicate stop just above the metal of the ship. The door slowly drifted open and Shepard stepped out onto the hull of the Broker's ship, only to be battered by a powerful wind that forced him across the ship's hull, his boots scraping uselessly on the smooth metal. He grasped a nearby piece of machinery and activated his mag boots which finally awarded him solid footing on the ship. "Be careful exiting the shuttle. Make sure that your mag boots are on or this wind will throw you off of the ship. This wind is also going to make any kind of engagement out here difficult."

Liara came over the intercom with a matter-of-fact tone in her voice. "This isn't wind, Shepard. The ship has a mechanism that uses gravity pulses to shove any debris from the storm off of the hull."

Jack and Liara took small, careful steps out of the shuttle to allow their boots to firmly lock to the ship before slowly trudging over to Shepard. "We aren't exactly running any-fucking-where with these boots active," Jack said as she examined the large storm that was violently swarming just beyond the barrier that the ship was holding up, "and that storm still makes me feel uneasy while I'm on the outside with it. Let's get inside this fucking thing before one of us gets struck by it."

The crew was slowly making their way along hull of the ship when Shepard's shields cracked from an unknown source of damage. "What the hell was that?!" He screamed as he jogged to the nearest piece of cover and peered out to find the culprit. In the distance he could see a small squad of four LOKI mechs slowly marching their way towards him. One of them was more heavily armored than a standard mech and was carrying a sniper rifle to its shoulder. "Damn it, I just realized that we won't be able to hear their shots while we're out here! We're in a vacuum so there won't be any noise apart from us speaking to one another over the comms so we're going to have to communicate. For starters, what the fuck is that mech, Liara?"

From her own piece of cover a few feet away she was tapping on her omni-tool, gathering information on the customized mech. A few more moments of the deafening silence passed before she came over the comms with her findings. "It's the Broker's own little pet project apparently. Its armor his scrapped from a YMIR mech and infused with lightweight allows, also the Broker has a direct control uplink to it. Its sniper is firing pulse rounds, thus its ability to ignore yours shields."

Shepard scanned the area surrounding the bot from the safety of his cover in order to find something to help them. The mech was standing directly beside one of the smaller lightning rods, which was sparking violently with a stored charge. He looked to the bottom of the rod and found the generator for its kinetic shielding that was keeping the lightning contained. "Jack, fire on that panel on the bottom right side of that lightning rod. It should release the lighting and fry the circuits of the bots."

Jack sprung from her cover and fired a single precise pistol round into the box, releasing a crackling spear of lighting that jutted out into each of the robots and dropped them to the ground in sparking heaps before the wind blew them over the edge of the ship. "Fuck that felt good!" Jack said as she watched the metallic forms slowly drop through the atmosphere of the planet below them. Shepard and Liara joined her before once again marching onward to the hatch beneath the central rod.

After a few minutes of forced walking they arrived at their destination in front of the large pylon. iara stepped up to a small panel and placed another of her small yellow disks on it and the pylon slightly sank into the hull of the ship before receding towards the front of the ship, revealing a large seamless wall; the only blemish being a small symbol that was etched into the center of it. Liara searched through her belt before removing a large red disk and placing it directly over the symbol, the disk soon projected a red circle that was slowly beginning to fill itself. "This may take a while, but when that circle is filled the door will open."

Shepard released an irritated sigh, "Is there an estimated time here?" He said as he took a knee beside Liara.

"Well, no. I haven't exactly broken into the Shadow Broker's ship before," Liara replied with irritation evident in her voice.

Jack came waltzing into the small passage with them and took her own seat on the ground and pressed her back to the wall. "At least we get a break from that fucking wind. Hey, Asari, how do we know that this little hacking attempt won't alert the guards?"

Almost as if it had happened just to spite Jack, alarms began blaring from within the base. Their foreboding tone rising to an earsplitting volume and then dying down again, only to reach the earsplitting level once again. The trio exchanged glances before hurrying to the mouth of the passage to find numerous hidden doors in the hull sliding open and guards, mechs, and drones flowing out of them. The fight was about to get heavy, and the three of them dug in to prepare for the onslaught.

The mercenaries took cover as the mechs pushed forward into a hail of gunfire. The skies around the squad were filled with drones that were raining down gunfire and rockets, one of their ranks being picked off every few moments by Shepard. He chuckled darkly as he rose from his cover and fired a slug from his shotgun deep into an unfortunate merc's chest. "Hey, Liara, you remember the good old days where we could just slap omni-gel on anything and it would open?"

"Yes. That upgrade in security made quite a few people unhappy," Liara said as she ran to check on the progress of the decryption disk. "We only have a few more moments until the door is open, Shepard."

Jack fell back and lightly tugged on Shepard's shoulder as she passed him to tell him that it was time to move on, since Liara's words fell on deaf ears. The two of them made their way to the door with Liara and only stood there for just a moment longer before the seamless wall opened into a large corridor with a bridge spanning across a large chasm with numerous electrical components shifting and lowering themselves into the pitch black void at the bottom of the pit. They stepped onto the bridge and the door that they entered through slammed itself shut with a thundering slam and a set of heavy locks bolted it into the floor once again.

They squad slowly crossed the bridge before finding themselves in the middle of a maze immaculate hallways and bare walls. Each and every one of the hallways extended as far as they could see and only appeared to branch out into even more winding pathways. "Holy shit, Liara. We're going to find your friend in here somehow?" Shepard said as he gazed down one of the seemingly endless hallways with a skeptical look on his face.

"Yes, we are," Liara replied curtly as she pulled a small black box from her belt and inserted it into a slot in her arm dock for her omni-tool, "and this is how we are going to do it. I managed to salvage a schematic for the ship's hallways from one of the mechs we took down earlier." Liara pivoted rapidly and took off down one of the hallways at breakneck speed, leaving Jack and Shepard to catch up since they were not expecting the change in speed. She passed numerous doorways, changed hallways countless times, and finally stopped at a seemingly random door with a triumphant grin on her face. "This is it. Shepard, you two will go in and handle the mercs while I get to Feron and help him escape."

Shepard gave Liara an acquiescent nod and turned to Jack before unsheathing his shotgun and taking up a position on one side of the door; Jack taking up her own position on the opposite side. His eyes pulsed a bright blue as he slammed his fist on the console to open the door and charged through it, feeling another tinge of pain in his neck from his implant. His body threw itself into overdrive as he sprinted across the room, tossed a tray covered in medical tools aside, and as one of his knees reached the top of its swing he leapt into the air and brought it crashing up into a merc's chin. He landed on the man's lifeless body and quickly searched the room to discover that he and the corpse were the only ones there. There was a large, walled operating table in the center of the room with numerous pieces of machinery and trays of surgical tools surrounding it.

He cautiously stepped up to the table with his shotgun at the ready in front of him. He rounded its wall to find a frail, badly wounded Drell secured to it by countless restraints. The most dangerous of which appeared to be a lock that surrounded his head with numerous electrodes arching only inches from his scalp. The Drell weakly opened his eyes and looked to Shepard once, closed his eyes, and then snapped them back open with a look of unbridled surprise. "Who are you?! Are you here to help me?!" The Drell said frantically, his voice more raspy and choked than the common level of his people.

Shepard turned to the door and shouted for Liara, who was already racing through the doorway with Jack. Liara joined Shepard at the foot of the table and her face lit up with a wide smile when she saw the Drell. "Feron. Don't worry, we are going to get you out of there." She raced off to a nearby console immediately.

Feron stared to the ceiling with wide, fear filled eyes when he realized what she was doing. "No!" he screamed as Liara reached the terminal, but she had already activated the process. The electrodes above his head arched violently before tendrils shot down towards the top of his head and began to burn the flesh from the crown of his head. His screams flooded the room as his body convulsed and flailed against his restraints, to no avail. The device stopped sparking and his pained screams and attempts to escape ceased as well. He lay in the chair, his chest rising weakly as he drifted in and out of consciousness from the nearly unbearable pain he had been subjected to. Liara's hands quickly withdrew from the console and she looked at them with disgust, as if they had active the console on their own.

The room fell absolutely silent as Jack and Shepard looked to one another, both of which being mostly uninvolved with the situation, as Feron's gradually strengthening breath remained the only noise in the room. "The table is wired to the main power. The Broker keeps the switch in his office. It has to be nearby. Switch it off, otherwise this thing will kill me if you try to rescue me." He could no longer fight his weakness and his head fell silently to the table beneath him.

Liara checked the monitors in front of herself, "He's alive but he's unconscious. The Broker's office appears to be just down the hallways from us if these schematics are to be believed." She strode to the door and waited for Jack and Shepard to join her by the exit before they all stepped out of the horrific room and out into the peaceful, spotless hallways. Liara brought up her omni-tool and led the squad through a few more hallways before stopping at a small, unassuming door. "This appears to be it."

Jack took a second look at the door and then looked back to Liara with an incredulous gaze. "You're sure that this is it? After all this fucking time we find where this guy is and he is behind a regular piece of shit door? Wouldn't you want to have a grand door to draw some attention and say 'hey, I'm the god damn Shadow Broker?"

Liara looked at Jack with a confused gaze before realizing that she was serious. "Oh, no. The reason why he was able to get this far as the Shadow Broker is staying low profile, not flaunting his existence with grandiose displays of power or importance."

"Whatever," Jack said as she crossed her arms and looked to Shepard, "I'd still get a big ass door." She muttered.

Liara opened the door and the three of them stepped in with their weapons at the ready. The room that they entered was large and circular with pillars surrounding a central area, a single object sat in this nearly empty space; a desk with a large form seated behind it with its hands folded together on top of the desk in a patient manner. In the ceiling above the figure was a circular glass plate with lightning coursing just behind the transparent barrier. Past the desk there was an expansive, open area with numerous computer screens and a grand window looking out into the expanse of space.

The form behind the table released a rumbling, low hum of contentment before clearing its throat with another resounding rumble. "Ah, Dr. T'soni. You've finally managed to track me down, and you appear to have brought help. None other than the infamously undead Commander Shepard has joined you in your little quest and of course he brought along his new pet, the biotic criminal officially known as Subject Zero," The figure shifted calmly in his seat and leaned forward onto his arms as he directed his gaze back to Liara. "The Prothean expert comes to me to try to rescue a traitorous Drell only because he helped her locate the very man who stands before me now? You must be here to try to prove yourself, dethrone me, and take my large pool of resources and contacts for yourself. How am I doing, Asari?" The figure turned his gaze to Shepard as he finished his sentence, and the three of them could feel the sickening smile that was on its shrouded face.

Liara grinned darkly, lowered her pistol, and rested against one of the supportive pillars. "Allow me to make a few assertions of my own. You're a Yahg, likely brought here as a guard, or a pet. You eventually grew tired of your confinement and escaped before killing the previous Shadow Broker and assumed the mantle yourself. How am I doing, lapdog?"

The Yahg behind the desk snapped to his feet with a roar that rang out through the small confines of the room. Shepard watched the form of the creature appear to grow larger and larger as it reached its full height. "Great, you pissed it off." A moment later the desk that he was sitting behind came barreling out of the shadows, struck Jack directly in the chest, and pinned her unconscious form to the ground beneath it. "Jack!" Shepard called out to her as he rushed to her side, his path being cut off by a brutal backhand from the Yahg that sent him hurdling across the room and into one of the thick supports. Shepard was quickly recovering from the blow as the beast stepped into the light to face down the two remaining intruders. His skin was a thick crimson with pure white stripes running down his cheeks and the center of his chin. In the center of his head was a massive maw; jagged, barbed teeth jutting out from all directions. He wore a set of immense, ebony armor with gauntlets the same shade of red as his skin. In his right hand he held a rifle that was nearly as large as Shepard himself.

Shepard was to his feet and behind a pillar just as a bombardment of gunfire tore past him. The gunfire changed directions as the Broker switched to firing on Liara's cover instead of Shepard's. He took advantage of the break in fire as he drew his shotgun, a new weapon that he had been given for helping Grunt with his rite of passage, and prepared a biotic throw. He broke from his cover and rushed the Yahg with his biotic shield up, which would help absorb any damage that would be done to him if the Broker's attention shifted to him once again. He unleashed the throw on the Broker, knocking the large beast off balance, and quickly closed the gap between them. His shotgun was against the large creature's chest and he fired two shells into his chest, decimating the Broker's shields and blowing a large hole into his armor that was soon oozing thick, green blood. The beast regained its balance and hit a button on his wrist. A large orange shield extended from his forearm and he smashed it against Shepard's chest, throwing him into a far wall once again.

Liara had been watching the whole ordeal, trying to find a weakness in the Broker's defenses that they could exploit. She heard a booming crack as the storm raged on outside of the ship, and the brightness of the room intensified for an instant as lightining rushed into the small space above the Broker's head. She slammed her fingers onto her transmitter and hailed for Shepard. "Get his shields down one more time, Shepard. Try to lure him directly under that glass pane as you do so." Shepard looked to the ceiling and took note of the angrily pulsing energy behind the glass.

Shepard sighed heavily and squeezed his shotgun to his chest. He surrounded himself with another biotic shield and broke out of cover and stepped into a storm of rifle fire. He made it halfway to the Broker before his shield fell and the heavy rounds began impacting with his chestplate. Once he was in range, the Broker took a viscous swing at him with his shield and Shepard barely managed to avoid the blow. He threw a devastating kick to the Broker's knee as he slid past and fired a shell from his shotgun to the other. He stood, replaced his spent thermal clip with a fresh one, and clambered onto the enraged Yahg's back. He dug one of his fingers into one of the beast's eye sockets and jerked it violently toward the center of the room beneath the glass. The beast had no choice but to follow Shepard's lead as he drove him towards the center of the room. Just as they reached their destination the Broker wrapped an immense hand around Shepard's torso, ripped him from his back, and spiked him violently to the ground. Shepard's breath was forced from his lungs in an instant, his back tightened and his chest burned but he managed to choke out a scream to Liara. "Now!"

She fired every round from her submachine gun into the thin glass sheet and a ghoulish smirk spread across her face as the glass pane cracked from end to the other. The Broker followed Liara's gaze just as the thin barrier shattered, the room went completely dark and all of the lighting tore through the air towards the tallest object in the room with unyielding strength. The lighting surrounded the Broker's body in a blinding light and a deafening roar mixed with the cracking of the lightning. The pained roars only continued for a few more seconds before the Broker's form completely disappeared in a flash of dispersed lightning. Shepard stood to his feet before he felt his ribs dig into one of his lungs with a sharp pain and he clutched at his side with a pained breath. Liara rushed to his side and Shepard waved her away with another pained breath.

The emergency lights in the room flicked back on with a faint red glow. The screens of the computers on the far side of the room all flicked on at once, each one showing a bright red x that was flickering rapidly. Transmissions were coming in in droves from operatives reporting a loss in connection to the Broker. Liara took a moment to stand before the screens, drinking in the sight of all of the power that sat before her with no rightful holder. She pressed a button on the large console before her and cleared her throat before reporting to the numerous contacts. "This is the Broker. The situation is now stable, we were down due to power fluctuations." All of the screens were turning to an orange marking, returning to their normal state one by one.

Feron entered the room quietly and saw Shepard trying to remove the desk from Jack and helped him despite his own physical condition. Shepard scooped her limp form into his arms and carried her towards the door, ignoring the tightening agony in his side as he looked down to Jack. Her slender face framed with shadows being cast by the ghostly glow of the emergency lights. Her surprisingly light body hung loosely before she stirred in Shepard's arms for only a moment before she firmly grasped Shepard's forearm and delicately nuzzled her head into Shepard's neck. He had sent the coordinates for pickup to Joker before helping Jack so all he had to do was make it to the hull. He stepped into the elevator and faced the large room for the last time in his life to see Liara and Feron greeting one another with wide smiles across their faces. Liara looked to Shepard and mouthed the words 'thank you' with a look in her eyes that carried too much weight to only be about the Broker. Shepard returned a single nod before the elevator doors slid shut.


	9. R&R

Chapter Nine: R&R

Shepard made his way through the Normandy's airlock with Jack still delicately draped in his arms. As Shepard slowly strode through the main deck, Joker turned to see what was happening. He noticed Shepard's face, his jaw tightened and his brow heavy with uneasiness which was very unlike the ruthless commander to show. His attention turned to Jack's form with her head leaning gently into Shepard and her hand clinging to him, and a small smile crossed his face.

 _Miranda is going to love seeing this…_ he thought to himself as Shepard marched his way to the elevator. He was much too consumed in the idea of Jack being hurt to notice Joker, or any of the other people around the CIC, watching him carry Jack to the elevator with his body stiff and straight to dull the clenching pain in his right side. When he entered the elevator and would have to disturb Jack's position to hit the button, he was snapped from his trance.

"Yeoman Chambers, hit the button for the crew deck." Shepard said as his distant gaze turned from Chambers and back to Jack's relaxed shape. "I'm taking her to the infirmary so Chakwas can run some scans and help her out."

Chambers walked to the button without uttering a word as she delicately activated the controls for the elevator. Shepard felt a tinge of pain in his lungs as the doors of the elevator slid shut and he leaned his forehead against the cold steel of the elevator and it was there, within the confines of that lift, that the ruthless Commander Shepard realized that his guard had been lowered for only the second time in his life. His feelings for Jack had been gaining strength inside of him for quite a while, and now they had finally managed to boil over.

The elevator ride felt like an eternity as Shepard's emotions raged on like a storm within himself. No one had unearthed these feelings apart from Ash and now Jack was causing in an even greater intensity. He hated to admit it, but he was madly in love with her. Finally, the elevator came to a stop on the crew deck with a small lurch before the doors cleared his path. Standing just outside of the door was Miranda, her arms crossed across her chest with a furious gaze blazing within her eyes. "Shepard, why the hell are you carrying that criminal?"

Shepard took a small tentative step out of the elevator, sidestepped around Miranda, and made his way to the infirmary door. Miranda quickly followed suit, her stomping evident due to the clack of the heels of her boots growing closer by the moment. She quickly threw himself into Shepard's path and repeated her previous question, only significantly louder. "Why are you carrying that criminal, Shepard?!"

Shepard didn't dignify her enough to bring his eyes to hers, instead they remained locked on Jack's face, as they had been doing for what seemed like hours. His voice was gentle and low, inaudible to anyone but himself and Miranda. "She's hurt. I am taking her to Chakwas in the infirmary."

Miranda looked to Shepard, then down to Jack before the realization finally crawled into her mind, and it fell on her like a massive weight. _That's why he defended Jack when she confronted me about the experiments after we helped Oriana…_ Miranda thought as she took a small step back from Shepard, her mistake realized. "Very well. Don't worry about the mission report to the Illusive Man. I'll take care of it while you take time to get her help."

Shepard looked up to Miranda with a look of surprise, but a small smile soon crossed his face and he gave her a thankful nod. He brought Jack to the infirmary and delicately laid her onto the scanning table where Chakwas was ready and waiting. She opened the table's interface and started the scan, the machine flickered to life as a series of lights surrounded Jack and the table emitted a calming hum. Chakwas turned to Shepard and her demeanor changed to one of concern. She ran a short scan on Shepard and the worry in her face seemed to grow by the second as she sorted through the feedback on her omni-tool. Her gaze rose to Shepard once again, shifted to Jack, and then settled on Shepard before her tool switched off and she cleared her throat. "Shepard, I suggest that you go up to your quarters and shed your armor and take a shower. I will have Mess Sergeant Gardner send up a meal so you can eat before returning here to check up on her status." Shepard turned to Jack and his jaw clenched tightly and his eyes held a look of weakness. Chakwas lightly placed her gloved hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes, the one point of weakness that betrayed his reputation for being unbreakable. "She will still be asleep when you return, Commander. I will give her a sedative to make sure of it as well as ease her pain. When you return I am also going to take care of that injury in your side."

Shepard drew a long, ragged breath before complying with the demands of the woman who was the closest thing to a mother that he had ever known. He gave her a quick acquiescent nod before making a beeline for the elevator.

Forty-five minutes later, Shepard stood in front of mirror in his bathroom. He braced himself against the sink with one arm as he ran the other through his short, shaved hair. He looked up to the fogged up mirror before him before wiping the condensation away from the reflective surface. The man that stared back at him seemed barely human to him anymore. Nasty, jagged scars had long since taken over the sides of his face. They varied in depth and width, but they all had a single thing in common: a faint red glow pulsed from within them. His eyes were bloodshot and his irises were torn away and in their place were bright crimson lights where the electronics behind them was being exposed. On the inside, nothing seemed wrong apart from the occasional burning pain or a dull ache in his implants.

He stared into the eyes of the man that was so unfamiliar yet so himself for quite some time before tearing himself away and walking into the fairly large space that was his quarters. As he was pulling his shirt over his head he heard a small knock on the metal of his door before a light swish indicated that whoever was knocking had let themselves in. Kelly Chambers stepped around the corner of the room with a smile on her face and a metal tray in her hands that held assorted foods and utensils. She sat it down at Shepard's desk and stepped away with a slight grin before exiting through the elevator.

Shepard sat down at his desk and proceeded to gorge himself as he flipped through the massive amounts of personal messages he had begun receiving recently. As he was reading one regarding Garrus installing a new prototype Turian weapon to the Normandy he heard a slight ding notifying him that he had received yet another message. He swiped to it and panic shot into him when he read the sender; Doctor Chakwas. It read, "Commander Shepard, your friend Jack's metabolism is astoundingly high due to her ability to metabolize her entire dose of sedative within only an hour. She is beginning to stir and I am sure you would like to be down here to inform her of how she returned to the ship. –Chakwas."

Shepard shoveled what was left of his meal into his mouth and hurried to the elevator, chewing the mouthful of food on his ride down. He bolted from the doors as soon as there was a space large enough for his body to fit through and he was in the infirmary within a matter of seconds. He entered the room to find that Jack was already fully awake, her torso wrapped in gauze, and leaning up on her elbows in one of the beds with a curious scowl on her face. She saw Shepard enter the room and her attitude changed, only enough for those who had seen her as more than an unpleasant criminal to notice, but it returned shortly after.

"How are you feeling, Jack?" Shepard asked as he grabbed a nearby chair and brought it to the side of her bed. "You had me pretty worried on that station."

"Yeah, the Doc said you seemed pretty torn up when you carried me in," Jack said somewhat dismissively. She waited a few seconds before she spoke again. "Why did you do that by the way?"

"You were hurt and needed to make it to Chakwas."

"I know, but why did you carry me personally? There are stretchers and other people you could have made do that shit," Jack said as she shifted her weight from her elbows and sat up on the bed with her legs hanging off of the side. She winced from a pain in her side for a second or two before regaining her composure and locking eyes with Shepard.

"Because I have feelings for you, Jack. I'm not going to let Cerberus put their hands on you if there is even a chance of them trying to do harm to you." Shepard said as he stood and tried to step closer to Jack.

She slung her legs back onto the bed, ignoring the pain that it caused her, and avoided being close to Shepard. "I am going to sleep here for the night. The Doc's not Cerberus, so I trust her enough. I'll be fine by tomorrow so I can help you do that shit on the reaper thingy that the Illusive Man wants done." Another short silence set in before she looked up to Shepard with a rare smile on her face. "You're weird, Shepard. I like that." Then she grabbed the thin blanket at the foot of the bed and pulled it lightly over herself before turning her back to Shepard.

Shepard turned to leave but was stopped at the doors when Chakwas stepped through them. "Ah, Commander Shepard. I assume that you're here to check up on my patient. She requested that I step out for a few minutes after a contacted you," Chakwas said as she peered over Shepard's shoulder to look at Jack, who appeared to already be fast asleep. "It's fortunate that you're here nonetheless, Commander. The scan I ran on you earlier showed some mild bruising, a nearly fractured rib, and some troubling activity with your implants, so we will have to run some stress tests." Chakwas pulled out her omni-tool and took a small step back so she could run an analysis.

"Okay, now cast a biotic barrier, Shepard."

Shepard felt the pull in his implant as the protective shielding surrounded him just above his skin. Chakwas seemed satisfied with the results as she took a few notes before she looked up from her tool and gave Shepard the signal to stop.

"Alright, now I want you to use some offensive biotics. Warp charges or a pull should work," She said as she returned her gaze to the active scanner on her wrist.

Shepard scanned the room before finding an object that seemed suitable for him to lift with his biotics; a microscope. He felt the pull in his neck, but soon after it increased in strength until it turned to a burning pain in the base of his skull. The microscope was torn from its position and hurdled toward Shepard's chest at the speed of a bullet. He escaped its path just before it impacted his chest, causing it to uselessly smash against the infirmary door instead. The microscope started to glow a faint blue as its structure began to slowly deteriorate little by little. He and Chakwas exchanged disconcerted glances before she hesitantly asked him to perform another biotic act.

"Well, we only have one more test to run. Throw your implant into overcharge and we'll see if it has any adverse effects."

He looked at her for a moment, his thoughts racing within him as he thought of the possible outcomes of what he was about to do. After a few agonizingly slow moments, he decided that running the test now would be better than discovering a fault in his implants during a live firefight. He braced himself for the worst as his implant began to warm up, its standard clenching sensation came in slowly before he felt another searing pain creeping its way up the base of his skull before its scorching grasp could be felt pressing against the back of his eyes. His body was enveloped in a deep blue light and he seemed to teleport across the room, a large shockwave of energy erupted from the location he was standing in and threw Chakwas to her back and scattered objects around the room. Shepard rematerialized on the other side of the room only a few feet away from the far wall, and his speed was much too fast for him to correct at this point so he braced his shoulder and prepared for the impact. Just as he impacted the wall, his barriers sparked themselves to life, absorbed the blow from the wall, and forced a large dent into it.

Jack snapped awake from her slumber and looked to Shepard, who was staring at the wall in awe, and then looked to the confused doctor laying in the floor a few feet away. She scanned the room, the objects scattered across the room, the large dent formed in the wall, and the fact that her blanket had been removed from her body. She picked up her blanket and looked to Shepard with a small scowl on her face before laying back down as if nothing had happened.

Shepard walked over to help Chakwas as he felt the inferno within his head dying down to only a dull ache. He grasped her hand before cautiously pulling her to her feet and checking if she was okay. "I'm sorry about the wall, Chakwas. What the hell just happened to me?"

Chakwas stared at him with a dumbfounded look before shaking herself from her trance. "I…I have no idea. Let me check the scans." Chakwas summoned her omni-tool and flipped through the data slowly at first, but the speed increased drastically as her eyes widened with surprise at what she was seeing.

"What is it? I'm not going to die or anything am I?" Shepard asked in a slight panic.

Chakwas was torn from her tool and she locked eyes with Shepard with a look on her face that appeared as if she had completely forgotten that he was there. "No, not at all. Something fascinating has just happened. You were surrounded by your own personal warp field, allowing you to move as if you had nearly no mass before you removed yourself from this state at devastating speed. The warp effect that has been added to all of your powers also explains the microscope incident, but not the power that you were able to move it with."

The two of them turned to the microscope and found that it had been deteriorated to a small, lightly glowing blue hunk of metal. The warp field surrounding it was still active as the piece of metal gradually shrunk smaller and smaller. Shepard absent-mindedly placed his hand on the back of his head as he watched this and he involuntarily withdrew his hand when he felt the heat that was emanating from the flesh there.

"Chakwas, how the hell was I able to do that?" he asked as he returned his hand to his side.

"It appears that the stress you have been under lately has caused your body to try and reject the Cerberus implants, thus the large amount of scarring that has begun to show itself recently. However, your body has bolstered your biotic implants and tried to use them to remove the implant within you. Your implants will likely cause you a large deal of pain now, seeing how they are creating their own warp energy from within you as they are used. However, it does appear that you will become more and more powerful as your body attempts to remove the Cerberus tech."

"So my body is trying to fight itself, with itself?" Shepard asked, slightly amused by the idea.

"In a summary, yes. I recommend that you do not go on any missions until you are fully aware of the power that this reaction can wield."

"Alright, alright, don't go using my biotics."

Three days later, despite warnings from Chakwas, Shepard brought Grunt and Garrus aboard the derelict Reaper with him, where they discovered that the Cerberus research team had been indoctrinated, torn apart by Husks, or turned into the monsters themselves. They pushed forward onto the ship, receiving sniper support from an unknown source that they had all presumed to be a member of the ship's crew, until they stepped out onto the edges of the Reaper. There they discovered that their support was coming from none other than a very unique Geth unit, which had a large hole in its torso that was being partially covered by a portion of Shepard's old N7 armor. The Geth told them where the IFF device that they needed was located and then rushed ahead of them to get to the Reaper's mass effect core and send it plummeting through the ships orbit, where it would be destroyed completely.

Shepard and his squad followed behind, passing the piles of expertly dispatched Husks before they came across the IFF drive in a passage directly before the room that housed the Reaper's core. The Geth was deactivated when it was swarmed by a large group of the Husks and pulled to the ground. Shepard's squad managed to hold off a massive offensive, destroy the core, and toss the inactive Geth unit into the Normandy's airlock before reaching safety themselves before the Reaper reached crush depth.

Once aboard the Normandy, Shepard reactivated the Geth and it told him of a civil war that was beginning to form within the ranks of the Geth. The unit told Shepard of a Geth station that could be used to destroy the Geth that had chosen to ally themselves with the Reapers during the attack on the Citadel.

Shepard took the Geth, fittingly named Legion by EDI due to the fact that it housed 1,183 programs all within its one unit, and Grunt to clear out the station. There they were only met by inactive Geth that had been uploaded into the ships consensus, and they could easily be avoided completely. Legion brought them to a massive room filled with processors that covered entire walls, floor to ceiling, each of which containing thousands of Geth programs. Legion told Shepard of a new option that had presented itself during the mission, and it gave them the option of forcing the Geth to rejoin the ones that had chosen not to side with the Reapers, however there was no guarantee that they wouldn't simply rejoin them. Shepard decided that destroying the Geth was the better alternative, so he overloaded the stations drive core and turned to leave but was met with heavy resistance while on his way to the exit. Every inactive Geth unit that they had passed earlier was now bearing down on them as they had to make a break for the airlock where their shuttle was docked. They cleared the airlock doors, mantled into the shuttle, and escaped just as the station imploded.

A few hours after the mission there was an incident that involved Tali threatening to kill Legion, due to the fact that he was sending intel about the Quarians to the Geth. Shepard had to intervene, telling them both that they were only causing more trouble by arguing and that they could either fall in line or be thrown aside. Finally, all of his current duties were finished and Shepard was going to get some time to sleep between missions.

He was going to the elevator, hoping to get there before anyone could interrupt him but it was to no avail since Kelly stood only a few feet away. "Commander Shepard, the Illusive would like to speak to you in the debriefing room."

Shepard stopped in his tracks, more out of annoyance than obedience at first, but he started towards the debriefing room anyway. He strode through the open doors, activated the scanners, and waited for the quantum entanglement system to come fully online. As the Illusive Man's hauntingly unchanged figure came into view he could already tell that something had annoyed him, seeing how he was puffing on his cigarette with unusually tight lips and a clenched jaw.

"Shepard, I've got a mission for you that will require your entire crew's participation," he released the thick smoke from his lungs, it appeared as a ghostly blue cloud on the projection in front of Shepard. "A Cerberus agent has gone rogue and we need you to track him down. He stole a Cerberus shuttle and thought that Omega was the best course of action to conceal himself."

Shepard took a moment to go over the situation in his head, something about it seemed strange. Sending an entire squad of highly trained operatives to track down a single man? "What's the catch? No man should be dangerous enough to warrant my entire squad being sent after him."

The Illusive Man's eyes burrowed into Shepard's, the contrast of his watery blue eyes looking into the pulsing crimson that burned within Shepard's lasted only a few moments before his jaw clenched once again and his brow furrowed with frustration. "He stole a prototype weapon from us that we were planning on sending to help you in your efforts. Retrieve it, deal with the rogue however you see fit, and return to the Normandy to report your success."

Shepard crossed his arms inquisitively and a small smirk crossed his face. He loved seeing the Illusive Man's infallible character crumble under frustration. "What exactly is this weapon?"

The Illusive Man took another long pull on his cigarette before looking down at it, watching the orange light pulsing at the end as he spoke. "It's the M-920 CAIN: a weapon capable of tremendous amounts of damage that we cannot allow to fall into the wrong hands."

"I'll get on it immediately. We'll take the shuttle down, find your man, and be back before long." Shepard disconnected from the channel and exited the room before assuming his position in front of the galaxy map. As he went to access it, he was locked out by and unknown source. EDI's voice instantly came from the intercom beside him.

"Commander Shepard, we have made a small amount of progress with the Reaper device, but we still need to integrate it with the Normandy's systems in order to traverse the Omega four relay. It will require a short full reset of our systems, so missions must be placed on hold for a few hours."

"We have a priority mission from the Illusive Man, so the crew and I will be leaving in the shuttle soon. We'll fly to the nearest fuel depot, fill up, and then land on Omega. Our return will be the same." Shepard said as he opened another intercom line to Miranda's office. "Miranda, I need you to gather the crew in the shuttle bay as quickly as possible."

"It's already been done, Shepard. The Illusive Man has already informed me of our mission and all of the details regarding our package." Miranda stated matter-of-factly.

"Okay, then get down to the shuttle and I'll be there shortly," Shepard closed the channel and opened yet another to Joker. "Joker, no scratches."

Four hours later, Shepard and the crew were inbound from the Omega refueling station with their package intact. They found their rogue agent and the weapon, but they were already within the possession of Omega's biggest player; Aria T'Loak. After a few minutes of bargaining they worked out a deal; Shepard got the weapon if he and his crew wiped out an opposing gang that was rising to power on Omega. The task itself was easy, but the surviving members ran deep into the bowels of Omega and the squad had to spread out and hunt them all down. When they returned to Aria they found the Cerberus agent dead, Aria sitting calmly a few feet away.

The majority of the crew had been staring at the weapon ever since they loaded it onto the Normandy, apart from Mordin who was intently studying its systems. As the crew was watching him fervently circle the device the sensors of the ship shot into action. The pilot flicked buttons frantically and looked at scanners as he deciphered what was being picked up on the sensors. Finally he discovered that there was another ship floating idly beside the Normandy, its frequency identical to the Collector ship that had been following Shepard and his crew for months.

Shepard raced to the cockpit and pulled his shotgun from his back as he read the scans for himself. "Open the cargo bay doors and get us in there now!" Shepard stepped back into the cockpit and the rest of the crew drew their own weapons in response. The shuttle flew into the cargo bay and smashed to the metal floor without any care for the shuttle's wellbeing. The Normandy's cargo doors slammed shut as Shepard leapt from the shuttle expecting a massive fight, but only found an eerily still room. There was no noise in the entire room, only his own heavy breathing and the sound of his crew clambering out of the ship behind him. He walked to the elevator with his weapon at the ready as he scanned the room. He hit the button for the elevator and quickly scanned it as well before turning to the crew. "Everyone scan a floor and meet me in the debriefing room. I'll try and find Joker and establish contact with EDI."

Shepard and Garrus stepped into the elevator first, seeing how they were both going to search the crew deck together, and rode it up in silence. As soon as the doors opened they had their weapons up and sweeping the room. Another deafening silence settled on them as they searched every empty room but the debriefing room. As they turned into the room they found Joker, sitting on the table with his head cradled in his shaking hands with EDI's hologram only a few feet away. Shepard pressed his fingers to his earpiece. "We have Joker secure but this floor is empty. The entire crew has been taken."

All of the search crews came in one by one with the same report: no crew members found. Eventually, all of the crew made their way up to the debriefing room to ask Joker how this all happened. Shepard had to contain Miranda to keep her from nearly killing Joker when he told her about unshackling EDI. The crew left and returned to their customary places, the only difference being a palpable silence that had set into the halls of the ship. Joker and EDI told Shepard that the IFF was online and that the Normandy was en-route to the Omega four relay; ETA being five hours.


	10. Acceptance

Chapter Ten: Acceptance

Shepard had gone to his quarters and isolated himself, turning off all of the lights but the ones above the couch which filled the room with an eerily comforting glow. He was sitting in his quarters on the edge of his bed, staring down at his boots like he had been for the past hour. He was contemplating how this could end, how it could _all_ end. His trance was broken by his door sliding to life loudly before the locking mechanism could be heard activating. His attention was drawn by the noise, but his focus quickly changed to the slim figure that was marching towards him, which was currently shrouded by the shadows in the room. It slowly stepped out of the darkness and Jack came into view. She was hugging herself tightly and makeup was streaming down her cheeks in jagged black streaks.

Shepard walked closer. "Jack, are you okay?" he asked her softly and slowly.

She quickly closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around him and pressed her head tightly to his chest. "You were right, Shepard. I am afraid of you having feelings for me," Jack said through choked, ragged breaths.

"It is fine, Jack. I understand that you have been through a lot," Shepard softly whispered as he wrapped his own arms around the small of her back. "You don't have to -"

"But that doesn't mean that I don't have them for you too," She interrupted, her shaky voice partially muffled by Shepard's chest. "I'm willing to face my fears. But for now I just need someone to hold me."

Shepard moved one of his hands up her back until it was cupped beneath her jaw. He lifted her face to his and stared into her tear-filled eyes before wiping the makeup trails off of her cheeks with his thumb. He looked into her eyes for only a few moments more before he leaned down to her and their lips met. Their kissing remained slow and passionate as Shepard's hands gently cupped her face until Jack pulled away for a moment and Shepard was worried that it was in hesitation, but it was only so she could break for air. She grasped the sides of Shepard's head and they kissed passionately again as she ran her fingers through his short, brown hair.

Shepard used maneuvered his own hands to her back and slowly undid the latches on the straps that covered her. He dropped them to the floor and immediately began to grow hard as he looked to her now exposed breasts, but the view was quickly cut off by his own shirt as Jack stripped it from him and tossed it to the floor. They remained standing as Shepard left a trail of kisses own her jaw and neck before continuing down the center of her chest. Jack leaned her head back in pleasure as she undid the latch on Shepard's pants and began massaging his erect organ. He was only able to enjoy the sensation for a few seconds longer before Jack shoved him to the bed. He lay atop the sheets, propped up on his elbows, watching Jack as she stripped off the rest of her outfit. When she was fully nude, Shepard couldn't help but grow even more erect; her hips were always visible through the thick pants but their full beauty was visible. The tattoos that crossed her body seemed to go on forever as they ran down her thighs and her waist, but they ceased just above her core.

Jack grabbed the waist of his pants hungrily and slid them to the ground, exposing his throbbing member. She straddled his waist and a devilish grin crossed her face as she felt his organ brush against her opening. He watched her with his own devilish look as she maneuvered herself so his organ was directly between her thighs, resting on the tip of it. Shepard's body tightened in pleasure as she pushed herself down onto it. She released a small gasp as she was filled by him, and Shepard couldn't hold in the long moan that he let out as she lowered herself all the way to his base. When he could feel her body against his own he grasped her hips tightly and lifted her back up only for her to slide herself back down onto him. He sped up the process as it continued, filling her completely with every thrust of his hips until it elicited gasps from both of them at every interval. Shepard could feel that she did not want it to stop, and neither did he. Jack pressed her hands against his broad chest as she enjoyed every interval that passed.

Jack was panting lightly, her energy a little drained, but Shepard had plenty left to use and he had no intention of resting. He wrapped his arms around her back tightly and flipped her onto her back so that he was on top, and began another series of thrusting. He started off slowly, letting himself sink deeply into her. Jack released a deep moan, digging her nails into his shoulders as he continued. As he pressed on, he returned to his method of increasing his pace. Jack began to release more moans, the time between them growing shorter by the moment. Jack could barely stand all of the things that were happening as waves of euphoria hit her. She bit down on her lip tightly to stop her moaning and took in all of what was happening as Shepard continued to cause her immense amounts of pleasure.

Shepard's pace continued to grow and he realized that he was soon going to reach his end, and that Jack wasn't far behind. He thrusted into her, penetrating her as deeply as he could. He felt her clench around his organ from the sudden, complete fullness and it was all that he needed. He released a moan and a large spurt as she continued to tighten around his organ. He pulled his hips back and slammed them into her again and Jack released a loud moan, no longer able to hold in her pleasure. Shepard's thrusting carried on as he continued spurting into her. Jack's nails sank deeper into his shoulders, drawing blood to the surface. Shepard pushed himself into her one final time as he finished emptying his load just as Jack reached her own climax and released a loud, blissful scream of pleasure. The only thing that Shepard needed to do was leave himself inside of her for her to completely finish.

As they both ended their climaxes they both felt a massive amount of relief settle into them. They both released long, contented sighs as Shepard pulled out and rolled over to his side and rested his head on one of the pillows. They both breathed heavily as they stared into one another's eyes, fully satisfied. Shepard grabbed Jack and pulled her closely to his chest before pulling the sheets up to cover them. They lay there for a few minutes, fully enjoying the others embrace before they fell asleep.


	11. Unto the Breach

Chapter Eleven: Unto the Breach

Shepard woke to the light hum of the Normandy's engines and a pale blue light blanketed the bed and the surrounding areas of the cabin. He scanned the room before looking down to his chest to find Jack sprawled across the bed with her head on his chest, her ear nestled directly above his heart. He turned his gaze upwards to the skylight and watched the pulsing of the ship's mass effect field as he listened to the sounds of the engines, every few moments it was broken by a deep breath being drawn by Jack. He didn't want the moment to end, and he knew that they were growing closer to the Omega 4 relay every moment that they lay together. He drew a deep breath and released it in a heavy, contented sigh. He felt a light stirring as his action shook Jack from her slumber and he immediately regretted disturbing the few precious moments of calm that they could afford before the hell would ensue.

"Hey, sleepyhead." He said as he lightly brushed his hand over the side of her head before running it along her jaw and tucking it beneath her chin.

Jack jostled slightly and cracked her eye just enough to see Shepard before smacking her lips against her teeth and closing her eyes again.

"Jack, we're getting close to the Omega 4 relay. I'll be down in the armory for a bit before going to the cockpit to see Joker," Shepard said as he pushed himself from the bed and began getting dressed. "I'll have Gardner send some food up-" Shepard felt the words catch in his throat and his chest tightened at the thought of his crew, despite his detachment from those around him he had grown close to the Cerberus crew over the past weeks.

Jack's only response was to roll over, turn her back to Shepard, and make an unintelligible noise into the sheets. He felt that it was his cue to leave so he walked into the elevator with the weight of his abducted crew still resting on his shoulders. They were all gone: Chakwas, Adams, Ken and Gabby, each and every member of the crew were aboard that nightmare of a ship.

Shepard came back to reality to see Tali standing squarely in front of him with her hands nervously wringing together. "Shepard, are you okay?" She asked, her thick Kelish accent still clear despite the slight synthesizing of her voice module.

Shepard shook his head violently and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he stepped around her, trying to mask the guilt that was burrowing into him. "I just…had a rough night's sleep. I know we beat the odds with Saren but this is a different situation. We have no idea what to expect on the other side of that relay."

Tali's shoulders stiffened slightly at the statement and her nervous wringing increased in pace, her already troubling unease towards the situation spiking as the man who had cheated death itself stated his doubts. "Shepard, we can't give up now."

"Hold on, I never said I was giving up. We're going through the relay, whether we know the odds or not," Shepard said as he continued on to the armory. "I want you to gather the crew, gear included, and have them all meet in the Debriefing room."

Shepard stepped into the armory and scanned the massive array of weapons that they had collected in the past few months, and decided on his usual setup apart from an experimental weapon that Mordin had recently pieced together: The Cain launcher. He locked his armor into place and strapped his weapons to his back before entering the Debriefing room to find that nearly the entire crew had assembled already, the one exception being Joker.

Shepard made his way to the end of the table, taking a position directly beside Jack and took her hand tightly. He looked around the room at the familiar faces that he had served with and had come to trust. Each and every one of their adventures together came to him in a wave.

Garrus; one of his most trusted friends and allies, natural born leader and an outstanding marksman who was fit for Spectrehood but decided on C-Sec to please his father. Betrayed by one of his closest allies, Garrus literally wore the scars of his past. Shepard helped Garrus track down the man who betrayed him and watched from only a few feet away as a round from Garrus's rifle plowed through his forehead and his body fell in a heap in the middle of the Zakera ward of the Citadel.

Miranda; a woman that was cold and calculated, but was that way because it was all she had ever known. Skilled with a pistol and having an amazing intellect, she deserved respect. Shepard knew this side of Miranda only because of their mission to retrieve her younger sister, which involved far too many mercenaries and old friends turned bad for Shepard to deal with.

Grunt; a nigh-unstoppable force of bloodlust and sadism, he had only been up and moving for a few weeks but he had already proven his worth countless times. Shepard had come to respect him not only for his power, but for his belief that the Krogan were a redeemable people. Grunt fought in a rite of passage to prove that he was a true Krogan and earned not only the respect, but also the admiration of clan Urdnot.

Zaeed; it was obvious that he was only in it for the money but he had made it one hell of a ride. Countless war stories, a slight case of hoarding, and a strong sense of pleasure that he gained from lighting things on fire all made him quite the person to be around. Shepard did leave innocent people to die in that refinery, but he gained a powerful ally.

Samara; the statuesque Asari Justicar that never seemed to falter, no matter the odds that were against her. She always brought her own perspective to every situation, which was much appreciated due to her centuries of experience that hung on every word she spoke. Shepard had helped her in tracking down her daughter, an Ardat Yakshi, and put an end to her hundreds of years of murder by killing her themselves. Executing her daughter had changed her, however, and her powers appeared to have grown in strength lately.

Jacob; Shepard came to respect him as a soldier and a man after they went to look for his father's wrecked ship only to find that his father had not only survived, but was now the acting captain for the rest of the survivors. He quickly began to lose control so he forced the other survivors to eat local plant life that caused neural degradation whilst he hoarded the safe food for himself. Jacob couldn't stand the beast of a man that stood before him, so he gave him a loaded handgun with only one round, and his father saw suicide favorable to being torn apart by those he had abused for so many years.

Legion; a Geth powerhouse that was home to over one thousand active Geth programs at once. Shepard and the crew decided to reactivate him after the mission aboard the derelict Reaper and they were more than pleasantly surprised by the amount of skill that he showed with a long range rifle, even outshooting Garrus on many accounts. Legion told Shepard of a Geth station that was built by the "heretics", a name given to those Geth that had sided with Saren and the Reapers. Shepard and the crew quickly went to the coordinates and destroyed it, wiping out thousands of Geth programs within moments.

Mordin; the Salarian genius that was responsible for the creation of the Genophage, however that choice seemed to weigh upon him after he had learned about the work of his apprentice, Maelon Heplorn. He and Shepard tracked him down on Tuchanka to find that he was conducting brutal experiments on Krogan females in order to produce a cure for the Genophage, a noble cause if it weren't done in such a horrific manner. With Shepard's advisory, Mordin killed Maelon and transferred the data to a personal drive to keep the Krogan from somehow retrieving it.

Kasumi; the master thief that Cerberus was able to offer _just_ enough money to in order to bring her onto the crew. Upon her arrival on the Normandy she immediately dove into a mission that Cerberus promised her, another angle she was able to play along with the monetary fee for her services. She brought Shepard along to secure what she would only identify as "Keiji's Greybox." Retrieving this meant infiltrating a powerful mercenary's private party with Shepard disguised as a young, entrepreneurial mercenary that was on the rise in galactic relations, and Kasumi was to pose as his date to the party. After breaking into his safe and equipping their gear, which they smuggled in using a golden statue of Saren Arterius, they made their way to the vault. Inside they found countless priceless artifacts, which included Michael Angelo's David and the recovered head of Lady Liberty. He and Kasumi recovered the device but they were also discovered by the mercenary's security measures and had to run for the exfil shuttle. They smashed through many defensive positions that had been set up by the security teams before making their way outside to the shuttle pad where their pilot had landed and was anxiously waiting on them. Upon reaching the edge of the pad they were attacked by a stolen Alliance fighter, with the host of the party flying it. After a lengthy battle Kasumi was able to overload its thrusters and it crashed to the ground, the only remains from the crash a sparking heap of twisted metal. Kasumi decided to keep the Greybox, seeing how it held every memory of her time with Keiji before his death.

Tali; the young Quarian engineer that had been at Shepard's side from near the very beginning. Tali had always been a humble person despite her astounding knowledge of machinery and electronics. Tali was the first member of Shepard's original crew to discover that he was alive once again when they encountered one another on Freedom's Progress. Shepard attempted to recruit her then and there but she was much too dedicated to her work to join him. Only a few weeks later she joined on with his new crew after he rescued her and a member of her squad on a harsh planet overrun with Geth. The Migrant Fleet soon summoned Tali to the Flotilla for a trial regarding an issue with Geth equipment she had been sending them. Shepard gladly took her to the trial and there they discovered that her father had been trapped by recently reactivated Geth on a nearby Quarian vessel. Shepard accompanied her to clear out the ship and there they found that her father had been killed by the hostile machines and evidence that her father had been using the deactivated machines that she had been sending him to reconstruct Geth units and testing the strength of the connections that they could form when the units were able to reboot and arm themselves against the Quarian crew. Tali begged Shepard not to use the evidence in her trial because it would tarnish her father's name and Shepard gave her his word that he would not use it unless he had to. Upon returning to court he was able to use their prejudice against him as a human to get them to lift the charges against Tali.

Thane; the life-long assassin that had joined on with Shepard simply because he wanted to do a small amount of good in his life. Highly skilled and disciplined, he was the most composed person Shepard had met in his life. After the mission to stop his son from walking in his footsteps he had become much more content with his life and the fate that was issued him by his syndrome. Shepard respected Thane greatly and had even taken numerous training sessions from him.

Shepard took a long scan around the room before finally turning his gaze to Jack. The broken woman that had been born into unimaginable hell and carried through all of it. Shepard couldn't believe how deeply in love he had fallen with her. He would die for her if he must and he was sure she would do the same.

Shepard smiled as he pulled his view away from Jack and towards the rest of the crew. "There's no going back now. We've come this far to stop these bastards and there's no way that we're about to give up because of some relay." Shepard said as he met the gazes of each and every member of his crew. "Those bastards not only thought that they could take our colonists but now they think that they can take our crew! It's time we show them that we have had enough! We're going in there and we're going to wipe out every last one of those abominations!" Shepard ended his speech with a sharp rap on the table, spurring an uproar from the crew. "Joker, prepare to take us through the relay. I'm on the way up to the cockpit."

The crew dismissed themselves and took up necessary positions around the Normandy while Shepard made his way to the cockpit, followed closely by Jack and Miranda. Joker was actively running a check on the Normandy's systems before he took her through the jump when Shepard arrived. "Alright, Joker, let's get this over with. I want a quick entry but keep the systems level, we don't know what will be on the other side of this thing."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

The whirring of the Normandy's systems slightly increased as they began their movement towards the ghostly red relay. The anxiety within the ship was palpable and was increasing by the moment. Joker nervously looked over his shoulder at Shepard only to find him with his arms crossed, staring straight ahead at the relay.

"Here we go. Fingers crossed the ship doesn't rip in half."

The crew could feel the ship's mass effect drive engaging and they all held their breath, preparing for the worst.


	12. Crash Landing

Chapter Twelve: Crash Landing

The Normandy came screaming through the relay and was travelling directly towards a massive field of debris and large tones. Joker pulled the ship out of harm with just enough time to avoid taking any major damage from the few scraps that managed to connect with the outer shields. Out of the direct danger they had an overhead view of the entire area.

"Some of these ships look ancient," Miranda stated as they all analyzed their surroundings. "They look as if they have been coming here ever since the discovery of the relays."

Shepard noted her observation but was looking far too intently at the area around the ship to comment on it. The skies around them were full of deteriorating stars that shed an ominous orange light throughout the open area above them, casting unnatural shadows as their rays passed through the many stones and scraps of metal. The skies crackled with lighting and the storms circled a large, central expanse that was barren of any objects apart from a massive obelisk-like structure.

"Joker, do you see that thing out in that open area? It looks like a larger version of the Collector ships." Shepard stated as he walked over to EDI's access platform. He activated the station, summoning EDI's hologram. "EDI, run a scan on that thing's structure if you can. We need to know where we can enter."

"Understood, Commander. I recommend that we proceed with caution as I am detecting numerous electronic signatures within the debris field."

Miranda connected her omni-tool to the Normandy's systems to keep a watch on the ship's radar as they pushed further towards the station, a constant sweep of the surrounding area presented before her. They maintained a safe approach for the next few kilometers before Miranda's omni-tool began pulsing and beeping wildly. "Joker, we have a presence coming in from the starboard!" Her warning was immediately followed by a thundering bang and a warning that the ship's shields had failed surrounding the cargo hold.

Joker flipped through the ships status reports before spinning to Shepard. "You need to get down to the cargo hold, Shepard. The systems are reading a hull breach and a foreign electronic signature, a large one."

Shepard looked to Jack and Miranda and they all sprinted to the elevator, slammed the button for the cargo bay, and equipped their respirators and helmets. They exited the elevator into the cargo bay that was being vented by a large hole burned into the side of the ship by what appeared to be an extremely powerful laser. They scanned the room and found that whatever was inside of the ship had left, likely through the exact same hole it had entered through. The trio turned to leave but as soon as they reached the elevator to leave they heard a violent hum that was quickly increasing in volume. They turned back to the room and a large onyx colored sphere flew into the room through the hole in the hull. It circled the room, as if it was searching for them and immediately stopped when it turned towards them. Its seamless structure slid open in the front and blinding crimson eye focused on them before the intensity of its emitted light began to grow in harmony with the loud hum. Shepard threw Jack and Miranda behind cover just as a laser fired from the machine's eye and impacted the wall directly behind where they had been standing a moment before.

"Okay, so what the hell is our plan here?" Jack asked as she drew her shotgun from her back and loaded a thermal clip into it.

Shepard thought only for a moment before pulling the Cain from his back and eyeing it nervously as it extended in his hands. He looked to Jack and Miranda, both of their faces were showing concern as to what the weapon would do. Shepard pressed the trigger into the weapon and it began its own low hum that was slowly growing into a shrill screech. The weapon was building heat at an alarming rate and a piercing light was shining from the mouth of the weapon. He quickly snapped from his cover and released the trigger, the weapon's recoil was much more than Shepard expected and it smashed him to the floor. He watched as the orange projectile that had left the weapon drifted lazily towards the sphere and impacted with its hull. The cargo bay erupted in a blinding light and a blast of heat swept over the cover and smashed into Shepard, frying his shields. The smoke cleared and Shepard could clearly see the black sphere still floating in the air in the exact position he had fired at. He ducked behind cover once again, peering over it to watch the sphere's next move. The object sat completely still, its red eye unflinching and the constant drone still filling the cargo bay. It turned to Shepard slowly before its eye dimmed slightly before it began to flicker rapidly and its flight changed from a graceful hover into a fit of erratic movement to try and keep itself airborne. It smashed violently to the ground and the hum grew in intensity until it reached a deafening level. Shepard fell down behind cover and embraced Jack, shielding her from whatever was to follow. The orb's form flared into a massive explosion that threw out yet another wave of heat that shattered Shepard's shields and singed the flesh on the back of his neck and caused his armor to burn his back. He gritted his teeth in pain as the explosion roared on above him until the searing pain finally ceased. He fell to his hands and knees and looked to Jack. She was laying against the grate floor of the cargo bay and was staring directly into Shepard's eyes through the visor of his helmet, not knowing how to react to him placing himself on the line for her even after she knew how he felt for her. She and Miranda rushed to his side and he waved them both away and was immediately to his feet and on his way to the elevator.

"Let's get back to Joker. I never want to see one of those things again."

Shepard and the two women were on the way back up to the cockpit when they were all smashed into the wall of the elevator. The Normandy was being put through very tight maneuvers and the force was being felt throughout the entire ship. They reached the CIC deck and made a break for the cockpit, their advance halting every few moments so they could grab ahold of the railing to avoid being tossed across the deck again. It took them a few minutes but they finally arrived behind Joker's chair only to find that he was steering the ship downward; directly into the field of wreckage.

"Joker, what the hell are you doing?" Shepard asked as he tightly gripped the nearby railing.

"We're being tailed by a few sentries that were placed around the rubble as interceptors for any ship that made it this far. They're decimating the shields at the moment so I had to turn the ship's gravity systems down a bit to give them a bit more power even with those upgrades we were given."

"That fails to explain why we are hurdling towards a wall of scrap, Joker!" Miranda screamed as she practically hugged the security railing nearby.

"I'm going to cut through the openings, hopefully lose a few in the field, and cut back around behind the others to take them out." Joker stated with much more confidence than any of the others were feeling.

The Normandy broke the threshold of the debris, taking a few minor hits from small pieces of debris and was immediately weaving through the large obstacles with ease. Joker handled the ship beautifully with the drones still firing on him from behind, but a few of them were clumsy enough to smash into the obstructions that surrounded them. Joker tore out of the rocks and pulled the ship into a breakneck climb before diving back down towards the following machines and systematically picking them out of the skies.

"Holy Shit, Joker. You may actually be as good as Shepard says you are," Jack said with a small laugh before turning to Miranda. "One hell of a ride wasn't it, Cheerleader?"

"Not quite how I would describe it." Miranda took a moment to compose herself and looked to the task at hand. "Shepard, there's something leaving the station ahead."

The other three followed her gaze and found that a Collector vessel, the same vessel that had been harassing them for months, was on an intercept path with the Normandy.

"Looks like we've got an old friend coming to join the party, Commander." Joker stated as he activated all of the Normandy's combat systems.

Shepard grinned darkly as he looked at the ship moving towards them, likely believing it would do the same to this Normandy as it had the original. "Let's show them our new teeth. Fire up the main cannon."

As if on cue, the opposing vessel's main cannon pulsed a faint orange before releasing a massive beam towards the Normandy. Joker avoided the beam with ease, pushed the Normandy to its top speed, and began to close in on the ship.

"Firing now, Commander."

The Normandy's main cannon fired a devastating beam directly into the Collector ship's weapon, destroying it and sending the ship into a meltdown. Joker changed course for the station and tried to escape the radius of the coming explosion, but it happened too quickly. The ship's mass effect drive exploded and cast an EMP, temporarily shutting off the Normandy's systems. The ship went into a nose dive towards the massive station's hull at a speed that would likely kill anyone on board if the landing was not controlled soon.

"Oh shit, Commander. I can't really control her but I can at least change the direction that we're going to hit. Everyone hold on, this is going to hurt."


End file.
